Never Say Never
by White-Knight-1988
Summary: After a devastating loss those who served under Zordon make a promise to each other. But when a new threat arrives, that promise is put to the test as the Rangers realize the Power is always there, a part of their lives that will never truly leave them.
1. Prologue

_**Title: "Never Say Never"**_

_**Story by: ChrisAngelo, in conjunction with myself, White-Knight-1988**_

_**Prologue**_

_**Original Posting Date: March 11, 2009**_

--

_One year ago…_

Uncooperative, and maybe even a bit clichéd, would best describe the weather on this dreary January afternoon. The skies were full of clouds and black as night; powerful roars of thunder and vibrant flashes of lightning accompanied the torrential downpour that had been active for nearly an hour already, making what was an incredibly difficult situation beforehand just that much harder to deal with.

Sobs could be heard in every direction, tears flowing from the eyes of man, woman, and child alike as they all stared at the same elegant marble coffin, most of them unable to understand how its occupant had ended up this way in the first place. To all but ten, Trini Kwan had never been the type to stick her nose into a dangerous situation, always the calm voice of reason who much preferred the use of her voice to that of her fists.

Tommy Oliver knew better than that though; as did Kimberly Hart, the woman whom he had neither seen nor spoken to in over five years, but who was currently clinging to his arm like her very life depended on it, supporting herself from dropping to her knees as the tears falling from her eyes struggled to keep pace with the rain.

Jason Scott knew better too; he, like Tommy, had been there when it happened. Zachary Taylor, William Cranston, Aisha Campbell, Adam Park, Rocky DeSantos, Katherine Hillard, Tanya Sloan…they were the few who knew the truth about Trini, she who had been the first on the planet Earth to call herself the Yellow Power Ranger.

Unfortunately, those who had not carried the same burden as she would never know the truth about the young woman currently being laid to rest. They would not know of her sacrifice, nor the time she had spent defending her home world from the evil beings who had threatened to conquer it. No, to all but those ten, hers was the tomb of the unknown soldier, a young woman who would never receive the praise and glory she so justly deserved.

Despite the rain Tommy wore dark sunglasses with his all-black suit, using his free arm to hold the umbrella currently shielding as much of he and Kimberly as was possible. How she had even ended up on his arm to begin with he did not know, only that she had been standing next to Jason on the other side of the coffin ten minutes prior, and then next moment she had appeared at his—Tommy's—side. He had said nothing but to offer his support, unable to let his emotions burst through when she so desperately needed whatever small comfort she was finding in being next to him.

Part of Tommy felt like telling her to get lost, that she had no right to come to him like that after what she had done to him, but just like another part of him—the part that longed to cry like everyone else—he was forced to suppress those urges, the latter because someone on the team had to be strong for the rest of them, and like it had been for so many years before now that responsibility once again had fallen to him. Any tears that threatened to fall were blinked away in an instant, emotion swallowed as he kept constant vigil on his former teammates, his sunglasses doing their job perfectly by hiding his wandering eyes.

When Kimberly suddenly gave a particularly violent sob at the prayer being recited Tommy found himself immediately springing into action, without ever giving any real thought as to what he was doing. He quickly pulled his arm out of her grasp and transferred it to around her shoulder, pulling her in as close to his side as was possible. They locked eyes momentarily, Kimberly giving Tommy just the briefest of watery smiles before burying her face against his chest and sniffling loudly.

Though it seemed like his primary concern was only for Kimberly, there was no one there that Tommy was hurting more for than the man charged with the shared task of holding Mrs. Kwan's hands alongside her husband. Billy's blue eyes had never been more red, rapidly blinking back tears as he used his free hand to stroke the top of Mrs. Kwan's.

Everyone who had been a Ranger knew of the history between Billy and Trini, a mutual attraction that had simply been too shy to develop into anything more. Then, right when Billy had finally found the courage to profess his feelings she was gone, off to Switzerland with Jason and Zack; and by the time she had returned a few years later he was on a different planet entirely. Billy had only been back on Earth six months and had already been forced to deal with the deaths of two loved ones; his mother, who had passed away from cancer a year before his return home, and now Trini, the only woman whom his heart had ever truly belonged to.

If Tommy could have, he would have shouldered every ounce of his friend's pain just so Billy did not have to hurt anymore. For the life of him Tommy could not imagine what it would feel like to lose his mother, not to mention someone as important to him as Trini was to Billy, especially not in the rapid timeframe that it had all happened in. His support was all he could offer though; and he had tried multiple times, but Billy was still very much struggling with the reality of what had happened and was not yet capable of reaching out for the comfort and support of his friends.

Thinking about that day two weeks back made Tommy grimace, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to banish the images that had haunted his dreams every night for the last fifteen, the same images he knew to be terrorizing his best friend as well. It was only they who had been there, only they who would be the ones to carry that burden on their shoulders for the rest of their lives. Suffice it to say, Tommy was shouldering the burden much better than Jason, who had been nothing short of an absolute wreck since Trini's death.

"Is there anyone else who would care to share a few words?" asked the robed priest, the rain suddenly stopping in what could have only been a sign of respect from Mother Nature herself.

Eyes seemed to flicker all around at that point, everyone looking at everyone else to see if anyone would answer the holy man's call. Trini's father was the first to step forward, followed by his wife, each of them speaking for a few minutes before returning to Billy's side. Then, with a tremendous breath, Billy exhaled deeply and cleared his throat as he slowly started to approach the coffin.

"The world will never know you, Trini Kwan, not the way I knew you," Billy murmured, pausing at her coffin, running his fingers gently alongside the smooth marble surface as he spoke directly to her. "The world will never understand the things you did, the person you were. It will never understand your smile or your laugh, your tears or your frowns; the way you always knew precisely what to say to make a person feel better, even when the only thing that person wanted to do was sulk. You were the type to give all of yourself to the world and never once ask for anything in return. I love you, Trini, and I always will; my only regret in life is that I failed to tell you how much you truly meant to me before it was too late. Until we find our way to each other again, goodbye my love."

As Billy returned to Mrs. Kwan's side amidst a sea of crying mourners Kimberly found herself with a renewed sense of strength. She felt selfish for even thinking that her pain could come remotely close to matching Billy's, and right then and there she decided that Tommy was not the only one in the group who was capable of putting on a strong face. Banishing as much of her emotions as possible, she swallowed hard and freed herself from Tommy's embrace, methodically moving towards the coffin.

"No words can ever do justice to the type of person that Trini was. Billy touched on it, but she really did always know exactly what needed to be said to make you feel better, no matter how bad of a day you were having. Trini was a special person; the kindest, gentlest soul I've ever met. She never judged or had an unkind word to say about anybody, and that type of person is something this world doesn't have a whole lot of these days. Every single person on this planet would have loved to be friends with someone like Trini, and I feel blessed to be standing here, knowing that I'm one of the few people who can say that they truly had the honor of calling her a friend. Trini, I want you to know that as long as I have air in my lungs this world will never forget you. You are the sister that I never had and I will always love you, Tri, forever and ever."

When she returned to Tommy's side a few moments later she no longer needed his support, but found that she did not shy away from it when it was offered to her once more. All the comfort she needed was right there in his arms, shielding her from her pain as they listened to everyone else who wanted to speak about Trini: her uncle, Harry; a very emotional Zack; and two of her cousins who were unfamiliar to the group of former Rangers.

"How are you feeling?" asked Tommy, as he walked Kimberly to her car once the service had ended a short while later. The rain had returned in full force, and they were standing just inches apart in an attempt to utilize as much of the umbrella as possible.

"Like my best friend just died," Kimberly muttered distantly, feeling her emotions return now that she no longer had Billy to look at, the former Blue Ranger having already left in a black SUV with the rest of Trini's closest family members.

Tommy winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound cold."

Shaking her head, Kimberly sighed and softly replied, "You didn't, it's just…I'm not really sure what I feel. Part of me is still confused over what happened, like sometimes I think about it and I'm positive it's all just some awful dream I'll eventually wake up from, that Trini will be there and everything will be normal. But then reality kicks in, you know?" Tommy just nodded as she added, "That's the part that hurts the worst, knowing that it's real and that I'll never get to see my best friend again."

"I can't imagine what it would be like if it was Jason," Tommy admitted, shuddering slightly at the thought.

"Oh, you guys are back to being friends again?" said Kimberly, Tommy nodding once again. "I hadn't heard."

"That's because you live on the opposite end of the country and have had barely any contact with any of us for five years," said Tommy, trying to keep any bitterness out of his tone. "I don't think you've forgotten, but this is the first time you and I have talked since Murianthis and that was like five years ago."

Kimberly grimaced visibly. "Yeah, about that—"

"Don't, Kim," Tommy interrupted, shaking his head as they came to a stop at the side of her car. Turning to look at her he continued, "At least not right now, anyway. I'm not going to disrespect Trini's memory like that by hashing out our personal issues on this of all days. It's waited five years to happen, it can wait one more day."

"Yeah, you're right," said Kimberly, nodding as she struggled for something else to say. "So, uh, I guess I should get going then."

"Yeah," Tommy replied, nodding as well.

"Are you going to the Kwan's for the reception?" asked Kimberly.

Tommy stepped back as she opened her car door, and said, "Yeah, I'll be there. The ten of us need to have a little talk, though."

"About?" Kimberly inquired, raising a curious eyebrow.

"You'll see," Tommy replied, Kimberly rolling her eyes. "I only want to have this conversation one time, Kim. Once things have calmed down at the Kwan's house, we'll all slip out for a few minutes so I can say what needs to be said. Trust me when I say that it's going to be a very, _very _short conversation."

Giving Tommy a "yeah, whatever" look, Kimberly got into her car and closed the door, rolling down the window once she had started the engine. "I'll see you in a little bit, Tommy."

"Yeah, alright, see you then," said Tommy, stepping back with a wave as Kimberly pulled away from the curb. Watching her car, he reached up to run his hand through his hair, but stopped short when his fingers reached the hard, spiked tips. Six days after cutting his long, trademark locks he was regretting it more and more, especially now when he needed hair that wasn't gel-hardened to keep his hands occupied.

Now slightly frustrated, as well as intently determined to grow his hair back out as soon as possible, Tommy turned for the red Mustang parked a few cars away and sighed. The funeral had been hard enough, but now he also had a reception to attend and two very important—and equally difficult—conversations that would be taking place relatively soon.

Alas, bearing the burdens of being the leader would again be his charge.

--

Utterly alone was how Jason found himself a few hours later as he meandered aimlessly around the Kwan's massive backyard garden, trying desperately to avoid the crowd of people who had gathered to celebrate Trini's life. The guilt Jason currently felt had weighed heavily on his shoulders for over two weeks now; he had not had a decent night's sleep since her death, nor could he shake the feeling that he could have stopped it all from happening.

When he closed his eyes he could still remember vividly what happened that night; the way she had sprung into battle, powerless and without even the slightest bit of hesitation, only to be murdered by a being stronger than anything the Rangers had ever faced before. Jason had only had one thought about that night, and it was that Trini would have still been alive if not for his own personal failure in protecting her.

"Hey," said Tommy, announcing his presence as he appeared at Jason's side. "Here," he added, offering to Jason one of the two bottles he was currently holding.

Jason accepted the drink with a nod, but as they walked he said nothing for quite some time. He knew what was coming, having already had this conversation with Tommy multiple times, and the last thing he wanted was to hear it again on the day of Trini's funeral. No matter what Tommy said to him, Jason was absolutely certain that the enormous sense of guilt he felt would never disappear, forever plaguing him until he too met his own similar fate.

"Look man," Tommy continued, upon realizing that Jason was not going to speak, "I know we've had this discussion before, but what happened to Trini wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could—"

"Don't say there was nothing I could have done, Tommy, because it's bullshit and you know it," Jason replied, shaking his head as he stared at his feet with tears in his eyes. "I could have saved her, stopped him before it was too late."

Tommy sighed. "No, Jason, you couldn't have, at least not without sacrificing thousands of innocent lives in the process," he replied, wishing just for once that his friend could see the truth. "I know you don't want to hear this, but Trini knew exactly what she was getting into when she decided to run into the middle of the fight without any powers. I'm not trying to blame her for what happened, but—"

"But what?" Jason demanded through gritted teeth, now staring firmly at Tommy as they came to a stop near some yellow rose bushes.

"We tried to warn her, Jase, you and I both did," said Tommy, recalling with just as much detail as Jason the moments leading up to Trini's death. "We barely survived The Hunter's attack, bro, and we had active powers. As soon as she made the decision to fight it was over, but she made her choice and I don't think she would have changed her mind even if she could have seen what was going to happen. Be thankful she did what she did, because if she hadn't distracted him for us that bridge _would_ have collapsed, and Trini would have never forgiven either one of us if we'd saved her and let all those people die in the process."

"She didn't deserve to die," Jason muttered, seething as he remembered seeing her lifeless body for the first time, broken and twisted on the cold concrete.

"I'm not saying she did," Tommy replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets as they started to walk once more. "But the simple fact of the matter is that it's a miracle either one of us survived at all. I know that's no comfort to you right now, but Trini made the most honorable sacrifice possible that day, and some time down the road you'll make peace with what happened and the reasons that it did."

Jason shook his head and said, "I really don't want to talk about this, Tommy. Being a Ranger was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me, but it also cost me one of my best friends, and when things like that happen, well…that's a life I just can't be a part of."

"What are you saying?"

Jason did not immediately reply, instead extracting a small, shiny gold coin from his pants pocket that he then extended to Tommy. "I'm saying I don't want this anymore. It's blood-stained and I can't have that in my life right now."

Though there was no real blood on the coin, Tommy understood the message that Jason was trying to convey. Reaching out as though to take the slim disc being offered to him, he instead took Jason's fingers and closed them around the coin, saying, "I'm not taking your Power Coin. If there's another emergency—"

"Then you can call someone else to help you next time," said Jason firmly, trying again to push the coin emblazoned with the tyrannosaurus onto his best friend.

Shaking his head, Tommy muttered, "You know I can't do that, Jase. I nearly drained my entire Zeo sub-crystal reenergizing your coin. If I used any more energy on another coin, the crystal wouldn't have enough power left to call the Zords or even fuel a morph, and then what happens? We're out two Rangers at that point, not to mention we'd be leaving the planet defenseless against The Hunter as a result."

"Not my problem," Jason muttered, feeling like a small child in the midst of a temper tantrum as he listened to his own selfish words.

Tommy rolled his eyes and scoffed. "It _is_ your problem, Jason. It became your problem the second you decided that you were ready to be a Power Ranger. You may have passed on your coin once before, but you can't do it again and you know it, because you saw the same scans I did. The residual Gold Ranger powers caused a surge in the coin that bonded it to you permanently. There's no giving it to Rocky, or any of the other Rangers this time around."

Allowing his emotions to get the better of him was an urge that twenty-plus years of martial arts training had taught Jason to control, but now more than ever he found himself wanting to abandon everything he had learned from his chosen sport. He could feel his blood start to boil, causing him to clench his fists at his side as he pushed back.

"Listen, Tommy, we're not kids anymore and you're not the leader! You can't tell me how to live my life!" Jason yelled, looking around to make sure no one else was nearby before continuing. "I'm telling you right now, I don't want to ever see this fucking coin again! If you're really my friend, you'll understand that and take it. If not, well, I just don't give a shit anymore!"

That being said, Jason flipped his coin as hard as he could at Tommy's chest and then took off swiftly for the house, passing the other Rangers who had just been walking towards the pair of former team leaders. Kimberly, who had been leading the group's procession, froze and stared at Tommy as if to ask him what he had done. Tommy just shrugged, bending down to pick up the coin from the grass at his feet.

"What happened?" Kimberly questioned, once she and the other Rangers had reached Tommy's side.

"He flipped out and threw his coin at me," Tommy murmured, rotating the disc between his thumb and forefinger a few times before dropping it into his pocket. "Anyway, thanks for gathering everyone else up, but I guess this is a conversation Jason's not going to be a part of; at least not right now, anyway."

"What's going on, Tommy?" asked Adam, looking between Tommy and those in the group surrounding him. "We're all pretty confused, man."

Zack nodded. "Yeah man, what gives?"

"Follow me," Tommy murmured, turning for the path leading to the gate some twenty feet away, the same gate that separated the front and backyards.

The other former Rangers all shared questioning expressions, but no one dared disobey their former leader, he who had been the one to bear the burden the longest of any of them. As they walked towards his Mustang, Tommy motioned for everyone to stop as he proceeded to the trunk of the car. The trunk door popped open, and moments later was pushed back down, Tommy returning towards the group of nine with a small, shiny oak box in hand. Upon returning to the group, he set the box down on the hood and leaned against the wheel-well to address them in the semi-circle formation they had made around him.

"I'm going to make this short and sweet, because there's not a lot to say that you guys haven't already been told from Jason or myself," Tommy started, looking around as various members of the group nodded. "The simple fact of the matter is that none of us are safe anymore. The Hunter, he…he knew things…about me and Jason, things neither one of us had ever told another living soul about. I think it's safe to assume he knows about the past, and not just me and Jason either, but all of us. If that's the case, and I'm pretty sure it is, then right now we all have to make a promise."

"What kind of promise?" questioned Aisha, her hand grasping Rocky's firmly.

"To never talk about our pasts again to anyone," said Tommy, eyeing each former Ranger carefully as he added, "Not even each other. It's too risky with The Hunter still out there somewhere. He has ears everywhere, and the last thing any of us needs is another…well, you know," he trailed off, looking down at the black asphalt, kicking a few of the loose pieces of gravel at his feet.

"Why do we have to hide? Why can't we just fight him and get it over with?" asked Rocky, echoing the sentiments of most in the group.

"Yeah," Tanya interjected, squeezing Adam's hand, "We've never run from any other bad guy before, so why should we start doing it now?"

"Because, Tanya," Tommy started dryly, "In four years of fighting Zedd, Rita, Master Vile, The Machine Empire, and Divatox, none of them ever came close to doing what The Hunter did. Not only did he kill thousands of innocent people in Los Angeles, but he took one of our own, and that's something no one's ever been able to do before. I'm not suggesting we run from him either, I'm just suggesting that I think it's better if we don't talk about things that could attract unwanted attention. Besides, it's not like we can just go after him when there's only a few of us in the group who have active powers. The Zeo Crystal is strong, but even with all five of us it's not enough to go after The Hunter. I don't think you guys realize just how powerful this dude really is; Zedd at his worst doesn't even come close to what The Hunter is capable of."

With a frightened look on her face, Katherine muttered, "He's really that bad, Tommy?"

Looking to his former girlfriend, Tommy nodded and started to reply, but before he could get a word out he was being interrupted.

"He killed another Ranger, Kat," Billy whispered, surprising everyone—including himself—by speaking up. All eyes turned to the former Blue Ranger as he continued, "Didn't you guys ever find it rather strange that the worst that ever happened to any of us in battle was a few minor scratches and bruises? Zordon was not kidding when he said that the Power would protect us. For The Hunter to kill a Ranger, even one not in Morph, means his capacity for evil power far exceeds anything any of the villains we've ever faced could do. I believe Tommy is wise in his assumption that speaking of our pasts, regardless of whom it is to, would not be beneficial to our personal safety."

Kimberly sighed loudly and said, "I don't like having to run." Tommy turned towards her as if to ask what she considered her actions in the demise of their relationship to be, but Kimberly ignored is look, adding, "But I agree with Tommy and Billy. If this guy is as strong as it sounds, we don't have a chance without active powers."

"So it's settled then?" asked Tommy, looking to each member of the group once more. Some just nodded, while others muttered their agreement, and in the end all nine had decided that Tommy was right. "Good," he continued, once they had all given agreement, "Then in three minutes we never talk about our pasts again."

"Why three minutes?" said Adam, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Because I have something to give a few of you," Tommy replied, reaching behind him to retrieve the box from atop his car. Before he could lay a finger on it though, Kimberly had already scooped it up to inspect it on her own.

"What is it?" she questioned, rotating the box around as she eyed the container carefully.

"See for yourself," Tommy answered, grinning slightly as he watched Kimberly try to open the box. After less than thirty seconds, she rolled her eyes in frustration and shoved it into Tommy's hands, unable to find any way to open it. Winking discreetly at her, he raised the box to his lips and murmured, _"Hasta ils fliegen ancora."_

With a low hiss the lid popped open, a thin wisp of steam pouring from inside as the Rangers all shared confused expressions at what Tommy had just said. Holding it out, he first offered it to Adam, who looked down at the contents with wide eyes. "Are these—" the former Black and Green Ranger started.

"The originals," Tommy answered, nodding as Adam extracted his Frog Ninja Coin. "They won't do much as far as power goes, maybe fuel a few Ninja-Ranger-mode Morphs, but I figured it was better than nothing."

Adam just nodded, smiling ever so subtly as Tommy moved on to Aisha who, reaching into the box for her Bear Ninja Coin, asked, "Where did you find these? I thought they were destroyed when Goldar and Rito blew up the Command Center?"

"I thought so too, but a few years after Zordon passed I went to the outskirts of Angel Grove and broke into the remains of the Power Chamber," Tommy replied, moving on to Rocky, intentionally leaving out the fact that he had nearly been killed at least a dozen times by the security measures Zordon had in place for those not in touch with the Power. For nearly an hour he had dodged booby traps of every strength and variety, all the while cursing himself for not remembering to bring his shard of the Zeo Crystal with him on the trip. "I found the box in the main chamber, open and glowing, but the glowing stopped as soon as I got back outside."

"Why'd you break into the Power Chamber?" asked Kimberly, ignoring the box being extended to her as she stared firmly at Tommy.

Tommy sighed as he cursed himself once more, this time for forgetting how Kimberly always wanted to question everything. "Andros, the Red Space Ranger, has been tracking the remains of the Machine Empire on the moon for over a year now. I broke into the Power Chamber to see if Zordon or Alpha had kept any of our intelligence on Mondo and his cronies that might be of some help to Andros."

"And?" said Billy, sounding more than a bit eager as he reached out with a trembling hand for his Wolf Ninja Coin, his constant thirst for knowledge shining through even in this, his darkest and most painful of hours.

"I found more stuff than you guys could ever imagine," Tommy answered, shaking his head as he remembered all the trips he had made back and forth between his home in Reefside and the old Power Chamber once he had finally been successful in disabling all of Zordon's many security measures. "My basement's full of Ranger history now, and not just our teams either, but the ones that came after us as well. It's like box after box just appeared after each team went inactive; either that or there's another Alpha in the Power Chamber that's really good at hiding."

"That's incredible," Billy murmured, allowing himself this brief moment of pleasure, "I would be most interested to see what you uncovered."

Tommy lowered his eyes and shook his head, feeling quite terrible as he said, "I can't, Billy, not while The Hunter's still out there watching. Everything's been locked away in a safe that's damn near impenetrable, with a twelve digit code that I don't even know. Only one person has access, and I can't even tell you guys who it is to make sure she stays safe."

Looking quite disappointed, Billy nodded his acceptance. While everyone else seemed to take what Tommy said at face value, Kimberly had caught something in Tommy's statement that had her staring at him curiously. With the sense that he knew exactly what it was, Tommy made sure to avoid her gaze at all costs. The last thing he wanted was Kimberly questioning him about who the "she" was that he had referred to.

"What about Zack?" asked Tanya, looking intently at Tommy. "You guys all have your Ninja Coins now, Jason at least _had _his Power Coin, and Kat and I still have our Zeonizers, which leaves Zack as the only one in the group without some kind of power source."

Zack smiled appreciatively in Tanya's direction, but dismissed her worry with a laugh and flippant wave of his hand. "Don't worry about me, T. The Zack-man doesn't need a Power Coin to take care of business if something happens."

At that moment Adam and Tommy locked eyes, the former leader posing a silent question to the man who had once served under him. It took only the briefest of moments for Adam to swallow hard and nod, turning to Tanya and whispering something in her ear. Tanya immediately turned and headed for the black Ford Explorer parked a few cars behind Tommy's, returning a few moments later with a black backpack in hand.

"Thanks," Adam murmured in her ear, pecking a kiss to her cheek as he took the backpack and reached inside, pulling out a shattered Power Morpher and Coin that he then tossed to Zack. The original Black Ranger caught the device against his chest, looking back and forth between it and Adam as if unsure what to do with it. "It's not much," he added, shrugging helplessly, "but it should still be able get you a few shaky Morphs if you really need them."

"I can't take this man. I appreciate the offer, but it's yours," Zack argued, extending the Morpher back to Adam.

Adam just shook his head though, very sternly saying, "And before that it was yours. Besides, if things get bad I still have my Zeonizer too. Just take it Zack, because you need something and I'm not going to use it regardless."

Running his thumb along the broken coin, Zack locked eyes with Adam and nodded. "Thank you," he said in a near whisper, all he could manage at that point.

Adam nodded as well, and started to reply, but was cut off by Tommy. "Alright, that's it guys," he interjected, looking to each ex-Ranger individually. Slowly moving towards the driver's side of his car, he continued, "From here going forward we never speak another word about our pasts until The Hunter is gone for good, however long that may be. If there's an emergency and you need help, the communicators still work." Opening the door, he climbed halfway inside and stopped to add, "May the Power protect you all."

With that, Tommy got in his car and moments later was gone, shooting down the Kwan's street in search of the black and red pickup truck that had been suspiciously missing from the rest of the Ranger's vehicles parked in front of the house. It was fifteen minutes later when he came to a stop in an Angel Grove apartment complex and headed straight for Jason's building, letting himself in without even a knock upon reaching the door. He froze on the spot when he entered, not because he was surprised that Jason had left the door unlocked—he did that all the time—but because of the severe lack of furniture that had apparently been replaced by massive stacks of fully loaded boxes.

Jason came sprinting out of his bedroom shortly thereafter, only to turn back around as soon as he saw that it was Tommy who had come calling. Rolling his eyes, Tommy sighed and went after him, knowing that Jason would have closed the door behind him if he truly did not want to speak to his friend.

"Give me the damn coin," Jason grumbled, stuffing an armful of clothes into an open box. Standing up straight, he looked at Tommy and stuck out his hand expectantly. "That's what you want, right? To convince me to take the coin?"

Looking slightly embarrassed, Tommy nodded and said, "You know what Andros is doing on the moon right now, Jase. If by some long shot Venjix is able to find Serpentera, we're the only ones who have the power to stop him from destroying the entire planet. I know you don't want this, and to be honest neither do I, but this is the life we chose Jason; if we're needed—"

"We answer," Jason finished softly, recalling the promise he and Tommy had made to each other before engaging The Hunter two weeks prior. "So are you going to give me the coin now or what, bro?"

Chuckling quietly, Tommy dipped into his pocket and extended the coin to Jason. "So where exactly are you heading off to?"

"New York," Jason muttered, returning to his packing. "I took the detective job."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Tommy questioned hesitantly.

Going straight-backed once more, Jason looked at his best friend and shook his head. "Not really, but it's a fresh start and that's what I _need _right now. I'm sure I'll be back sooner rather than later, but for now I just need to get away, you know? Clear my head in a place where no one knows who I am."

Having been prepared for this since the first days following Trini's death, Tommy merely nodded and offered his hand. "Take care of yourself, alright bro?" he murmured.

"Yeah," said Jason, shaking Tommy's hand firmly, "You too, bro. Keep in touch and let me know how everyone's doing, alright?"

"You know that I'm not gonna remember to call you, Jase," said Tommy, he and Jason sharing a very knowing laugh. "But I will remember to keep tabs on everybody. You remember to call and I'll have updates okay?"

"Yeah, alright," said Jason, nodding as Tommy returned the gesture and then turned to leave. As Tommy walked away, Jason looked down at the coin in his hand and shook his head, unable to shake his current sense of uncertainty towards what he would do if the world ever needed him again. For the first time since accepting the Power so many years ago Jason was actually doubting himself, silently questioning whether or not he would answer the call if it indeed came once more.

It was not a feeling he enjoyed at all.


	2. Danger, Pink Ranger

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**A/N 1: Chris and Liz, two awesome artists, have both done some incredible work for this story that you guys should definitely check out. It's at the Perfect Chemistry forum, and I'll be posting links to the pictures on my profile page. **_

_**Chapter 1 - Danger, Pink Ranger**_

_**Original Posting Date: March 29, 2009**_

--

At six a.m. on this sunny January morning, standing across the street from a coffee shop in Reefside called Hayley's Cyberspace Café, Kimberly eyed the outside of the building curiously, wondering why in the world Tommy would have chosen an Internet café to have their long awaited talk. At first glance the place seemed so unlike him, but then she reminded herself that yesterday was the first time they had spoken in five years and that it was quite likely he was no longer the boy she used to know; the change in hairstyles since she had last seen him was only the first piece of evidence to this.

Right away her curiosity was replaced by a clear sense of nervousness, her heart thudding rapidly against her chest as she took her first hesitant step off the curb and towards the coffee shop. Her emotions were very much mixed when it came to what was about to happen; part of her longed to put the past behind them and move forward, whatever that entailed, while another part told her it would never happen, that she had already done far too much damage for Tommy to ever be able to forgive her.

Still, _he_ had been the one to call _her _to arrange this meeting, just a few short hours after leaving the reception at the Kwan's home the night before, so she knew that, if nothing else, he was at least willing to hear what she had to say; and after going so many years without ever even speaking she was not about to let pass her by what could have easily been her one and only chance to try and make things right with him.

Taking a very deep, calming breath, Kimberly closed her eyes for the briefest of moments and left her fear behind as she continued towards the café. If he refused to forgive her transgressions then so be it, for it had been she and only she to have gotten them in this position in the first place. She would not fault Tommy if he reacted as she expected him to, though she still desperately hoped that he would not.

There were no cars outside nor patrons inside, leaving Kimberly feeling slightly confused as she opened the door to the café and quietly walked in. Almost instantly her hands went to her ears, heavy metal music blaring from the myriad of speakers in the shop. Furrowing her brow, she started forward once more, passing the coffee bar on her right as a new, less intense sound reached her, causing her to freeze on the spot as she saw where it was coming from.

It took less than a second for Kimberly to turn into a teenager all over again, swooning over the undeniable sexiness that was Tommy Oliver. He stood with his back to her in a black tank top and matching wind pants, his body glistening with sweat as he moved through a vigorous kata, completely unaware that she was watching him, Kimberly hidden behind a corner just in case he happened to look her way. What little she could see of the intricate tattoo that stretched the entire length of his chiseled back was the second sign that this Tommy was not the Tommy she had known in high school; yet, even for all the aesthetic changes, she found that her physical attraction to him had not wavered in the slightest. In fact, if she was honest with herself, the spiky haired, soul patched, and tattooed Tommy was even more attractive than the pony tailed, baby faced Tommy of yesteryear.

Suddenly determined to remain hidden, Kimberly continued to watch as he went through what was clearly a very difficult routine. He mixed punches and kicks with expert precision, adding in a graceful flare of gymnastics that she had never seen him display before, flipping and twisting through midair as though he had been doing it his entire life. Grinning to herself, Kimberly silently mused that she was still the better gymnast between the pair, but also that the likes of Adam and Billy were no longer the only males in the group capable of such agile displays.

For nearly ten more minutes she simply stood there staring, completely oblivious to the fact that she had been biting down on her smirking lips the entire time. At one point she felt an innate sense of desire start to take control, leaving her on the verge of making her presence known when someone cleared their throat from behind, causing Kimberly to practically jump out of her shoes as she whirled around to face whoever the culprit was.

"We don't open until seven-thirty on weekdays," announced the woman, an auburn haired lady with a look about her that was as plain as it was gorgeous, a clear touch of bitterness in her faded accent that Kimberly could not immediately place a location to. It took but one look for Kimberly to decide that this woman must have been the Hayley of Hayley's Cyberspace, which was certainly an accurate assumption. "If you want coffee, there's a Starbuck's around the corner that's open."

No sooner had the pair of women locked eyes then Kimberly started to get the feeling that this woman would not have so disdainfully refused service to someone other than she. For what seemed like hours Kimberly could almost feel Hayley staring a fiery hole into her, leaving the former Pink Ranger to wonder how this lady could have already formed such a negative opinion of her in such a short amount of time.

"I-I'm sorry," Kimberly muttered, looking a bit embarrassed. "That man over there, Tommy Oliver," she continued, awkwardly shifting her eyes back and forth between the two, "he, um, he asked me to meet him here."

Hayley scoffed loudly and said, "Oh, he did, did he?" Kimberly nodded sheepishly as the redheaded woman added, "Now just why in the world would Tommy want to talk to you, the woman that broke his heart like she didn't even care about him? I can't imagine Tommy wanting anything to do with you after what you did to him."

Kimberly's eyes went wide with shock as she realized that Hayley and Tommy must have been awfully close for him to share that kind of history with her. Her shock, however, quickly wore off as the real Kimberly began to push through, the Kimberly that could be as sweet as pie one second and, self-admittedly, an absolute bitch the next.

"Look, lady, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you have no right to talk to me like that," Kimberly replied, a newfound fire burning in her own eyes. "What happened between Tommy and I is just that, between _us_, not you, and I'd appreciate it if you kept your ugly ass nose out of places where it doesn't belong!"

"Ha ha," said Hayley, the sarcasm evident in her voice. "Please, Kimberly, don't even pretend like you know what you're talking about. You have no idea what you did to him, the years of pain you caused. You don't even deserve to be in the same room as Tommy, not to mention actually having a conversation with him."

Kimberly felt her blood boiling more and more with each passing second, her fists clenched at her side as she fired back, "You seriously have no clue what you're talking about. Yeah, I broke up with Tommy, and yeah, I was a bitch with the way I did it, but don't talk to me about years of pain when you don't even know half of what I went through!"

Hayley rolled her eyes, on the cusp of snapping off once more when a new voice interrupted, the clear and firm voice that Kimberly had heard so many times on the field of battle.

"Leave her alone, Hayley," said Tommy, both women spinning to face him, neither even having realized that the music had ceased playing some time ago. Kimberly suppressed the urge to smirk victoriously at Hayley as Tommy, dabbing at his forehead with a towel, added, "Just do what you have to do and we'll stay out of your way, okay?"

Hands on her hips, Hayley laughed heartily and shook her head. "Uh-uh, no way," she replied, waving her hands in front of her face. "See that sign behind the bar, Tommy? 'The owner of this establishment reserves the right to refuse service to anyone.' I'm the owner, and I say I don't want her in here."

Closing his eyes to prevent himself from rolling them, Tommy murmured, "Hayley, let's not go there with the whole ownership thing. I'd hate to have to remind you about the twenty thousand dollar startup loan I gave you that has yet to be paid back, even though you've been out of the red for nearly two years now."

Hayley opened her mouth to counter, only to snap it shut and simply scowl menacingly at Tommy, remaining that way for a few more seconds before sighing and turning away, walking off and muttering a slew of choice curse words directed at both members of the original Power Couple. Once she was gone though, Kimberly immediately wanted her to come back so as to delay what she knew was about to happen. Slowly, almost methodically, Kimberly turned towards Tommy and managed a very faint smile.

"Looks like you've made some new friends over the years," she observed, still a bit peeved with the way Hayley had come at her.

Tommy chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with the towel as he said, "Yeah," and then nodded his agreement, quickly adding, "Sorry about all that, by the way. Hayley's usually not like that at all. In fact, she's never like that."

Kimberly waved him off dismissively, pretending not to be bothered as she replied, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'd probably feel the same way if my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend just randomly showed up at my work. Granted, you could have at least told her I was com—"

"She's not my girlfriend," Tommy interrupted, quick to correct Kimberly's assumption. "We're just really close friends, so she's obviously heard some things about…well, you know," he added, suddenly feeling flushed himself as Kimberly nodded silently. "Anyway, since Hayley obviously couldn't be bothered, can I get you a cup of coffee or something, maybe a smoothie? I don't make 'em like Ernie, but—"

This time it was Kimberly's turn to interrupt. "I'm sorry, Tommy," she blurted out, going straight for the reason she had come. Sighing, Tommy quietly turned around and motioned for her to follow him as he started towards a table far enough away from the bar that Hayley would not be able to overhear their conversation without being noticed if she decided to eavesdrop.

Upon reaching the table, Kimberly moved for the chair opposite where Tommy stood, only to be left utterly flummoxed when he pulled the chair away from the table and beckoned for her to sit. That he was still being the selfless gentleman after everything that she had done to him gave Kimberly the slightest glimmer of hope that things could end up turning out the opposite of what she had anticipated. Smiling politely, she murmured her thanks and lowered herself into the offered seat, watching Tommy carefully as he moved to the other chair.

"You were saying," said Tommy, leaning back casually once he had taken his own seat.

"Right," said Kimberly, nodding and taking a deep breath. "Look, Tommy, I know it's been five years, that I've never reached out to you or even bothered to respond when you reached out to me, but the simple truth is that I was embarrassed. I'm not going to sit here and bore you with all the details of what a wreck my life has been since we split, but I will say that breaking up with you was one of the worst and most stupid decisions I've ever made; and the way I did it was even stupider. I was a scared little girl who didn't know what she wanted, and because of that I pushed away the one person I knew would never hurt me. I can't tell you enough how sorry I am for what I did to you."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tommy folded his arms across his chest and said, very simply, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you do it?" Tommy questioned, eyeing her intently. "And don't just tell me you were scared either, Kim, because we both know that you've never been the type to let your fears control you like that. Something happened that made you feel like I wasn't right for you, and I want to know what that was."

Appearing rather timid and meek, Kimberly averted her eyes from Tommy's, looking to the floor as she murmured, "I already told you in my letter; I met someone else, someone I thought I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with."

"Right, which obviously didn't happen," Tommy replied, leaning forward with his elbows resting on the table.

His remark was enough to get Kimberly to look at him, raising her brow as she asked, "What makes you so sure of that?"

Tommy chuckled softly. "Well, for starters, you're not wearing a ring. Then there's the fact that you showed up alone to Trini's funeral yesterday. Oh," he added, snapping his fingers as if he had just remembered something incredibly important, "there was also that interview you did after the Olympics last year. You know, the one on MTV where you said you were single and had no intention of being anything but for a very long time."

Kimberly's eyes widened in surprise once more. "You saw that?" she asked in a near whisper, Tommy smiling and nodding. Knowing that she could not lie herself out of this one, Kimberly sighed and said, "He wasn't the man I thought he was, simple as that. I learned that the hard way and to be honest, I really don't want to talk about him. Just know that I've been paying for my mistake every day for the last five years."

"What did he do to you?" Tommy questioned firmly, unable to mask his concern for her, something that Murianthis had proven would never truly die. Kimberly, despite what she had done to him, was a part of his life that he still cared about very much, even if this was only the second conversation they had had following her scuba diving trip gone terribly wrong.

Once again Kimberly looked away, only this time Tommy quickly reached out to touch her chin, gently lifting her head and forcing her to look at him. When their eyes met she found nothing but warmth in his chocolate brown depths, a look that told her he would not judge her for her mistakes or poke fun at her misfortune, and with just that one look she no longer wanted to run anymore. Instead, she wanted nothing but to spill her heart out to the man sitting across from her, to tell him every sordid detail of what she had been through.

"It didn't take long after I broke up with you to realize what an idiotic choice I had made," Kimberly murmured, her chin still gently supported by Tommy's forefinger. "Evan was on the Pan Global baseball team, two years older than me and much more experienced as far as relationships were concerned. It was nothing serious at first, we met through a mutual friend at a party and saw each other every once in awhile around the training facility, but that was it. Then one night, about three months after I'd left Angel Grove, we bumped into each other at another party and actually had a decent conversation. I told him about home, mostly how much I missed my boyfriend, and he seemed to genuinely care about what I was feeling inside.

"We started hanging out more and more after that, and I know this will probably sound crazy to you since I was such a little social butterfly in high school, but he was really one of my only friends in Florida. I had one or two girls on the team that I got close with, but actually making the team was so competitive that it led to more drama between us girls than I could have ever imagined. Needless to say, being seventeen and away from home for the first significant length of time was a scary experience, and when I was with Evan I found comfort, like I wasn't as alone as I thought I was. Still, I was committed to you back home and I wasn't going to let anything change that fact."

Having released his hold on her chin, Tommy pushed away his emotions as he was so expertly used to doing, swallowed deeply, and asked in a soft whisper, "So what made you change your mind then?"

Kimberly closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head before looking back at Tommy and saying, "Alcohol." The confused look on Tommy's face forced her to further explain, "I'm sure you can imagine what it must have been like for a bunch of teenagers, most of us away from home for the first time and with no real adult supervision outside of practice and school. There were parties damn near every night, with things I'd never been exposed to back in Angel Grove: sex, drugs, alcohol. I avoided all that stuff for a long time, but the honest truth is that one night I just got tired of being the only one not participating. I avoided the drugs, but I decided to get drunk with Evan at a party one night and…well, you can probably patch together the rest of it."

"You slept with him?" asked Tommy, having to fight even harder to control himself.

Looking none too pleased with herself, Kimberly nodded and replied, "It was the worst mistake of my life, even more so than breaking up with you, because if I hadn't been that stupid we never would have broken up in the first place. After I had sex with Evan I knew that you and I were done; I'd violated your trust in the worst way imaginable and I was too immature to tell you the truth because I was afraid of what you'd say to me. Oh sure, everything was great in the beginning, but I sent you that letter the day after the party, and two weeks later I ended up walking in on Evan screwing my roommate in our dorm room. I broke things off right away, and have never been able to trust another man since. That's a big part of why Jason and I ended up not working out; I just couldn't commit myself to him when I spent every second we were apart wondering if he was off banging some other chick."

Tommy narrowed his eyes, folding his arms across his chest once more. "Let me get this straight," he started, trying to be patient even though this story was completely different than the one Jason had told him, "You got together with Jason _after_ this Evan guy? Jason wasn't the one you were talking about in the letter?"

Red-cheeked and hating herself more and more with each passing moment, Kimberly looked down and shook her head. "He was there for me when everything with Evan happened, and I was there for him after the whole Gold—" she started, instantly falling silent upon remembering the promise they had all made the night before. "But no," she continued, knowing Tommy would understand what she meant, "to answer your question he wasn't the guy in the letter. I know he told you he was, but that was only because you and Kat were so happy together. When Jason and I decided to try things out, and I feel like a total selfish bitch for saying this but, all he wanted was to see me be happy again. He thought by telling you that he had been the other guy from the very beginning that it would make you hate him instead of me and forget all about what I had done to you."

At long last Tommy's proverbial floodgates started to crack. "He lied to me?" he questioned through gritted teeth, clenching his fists tightly beneath his seat, looking at Kimberly with an expression angrier than anything she had ever seen from him before, even angrier than what he had looked like during their Youth Center confrontation when she had told him that she and the other Rangers knew him to be Rita's evil Green Ranger.

"Please don't be mad at Jason, Tommy," Kimberly answered hastily, feeling that Jason had already taken enough blame at her expense over the years. "If you should be mad at anyone it's me. Jason told me what he was going to do before he did it, and I was stupid and immature enough to let him. I easily could have stopped him if I wanted to, but I didn't because all I wanted, even more than his love and affection, was for you not to hate me. I knew it would screw up your friendship, but I just didn't care, so don't hate him, hate me. After all these years and all the terrible things I've done to both you and Jason, you hating me doesn't even scratch the tip of the iceberg for what I deserve."

Tommy stared at her for the longest time after that as he battled multiple urges internally, specifically those to cry like a baby and yell like a madman. He wanted so badly to be mad at she and Jason, felt so horribly betrayed that he found himself blinking back tears while contending with a burning lump in his throat.

"I can't hate you, Kim," he finally murmured, avoiding her eyes entirely. "I tried for four and a half years to hate you and it did nothing but make me a miserable bastard. The fact that Haley's even still around after all that time is a testament to her patience, not necessarily my wonderful charm or endearing personality. One day I just came to accept that I couldn't go on pretending to hate someone I genuinely care about."

"You can't be serious," said Kimberly, shaking her head, unable to believe what she had just heard with her own ears. "How can you even give two shits about me after what I did to you?"

Laughing ever so softly, Tommy looked up at Kimberly and quietly answered, "I spent four and a half years asking myself that exact same question, Kim. Trust me when I say that I tried really, _really_ hard to make myself hate you. The truth is that it boiled down to one thing, and that was that one very bad memory would never be able to replace three years worth of amazing ones, no matter how badly I wanted it to. You helped me grow so much as a person when we were together, and even when we weren't, and that means more to me than you'll ever know. I think that's why I still care about you. Even after you broke up with me I always hoped we'd somehow end up friends again, because that's how we started and your having your friendship has always meant the world to me."

Now it was Kimberly's turn to fight back tears. "You're supposed to hate me," she muttered, feeling like she deserved so much worse than this. "I spent five years preparing myself for this conversation, for you to yell and scream at me and tell me what a heartless bitch I am, and now you're telling me that you want to be friends? It…it just doesn't make sense, Tommy, not to me at least."

"Some things don't have to make sense, Kim," Tommy replied, smiling at her softly. "No matter how many of you guys came and went, you and Jason were the only two I really missed when we all went our separate ways. I mean it when I say that I still want to be friends, if you want to and everything that is."

Kimberly did not know how it had happened, but one moment she was looking at Tommy in disbelief, and then the next moment she was kissing him passionately. It was the most wonderful sensation she had ever experienced, and as her body slowly drifted back into consciousness she tried desperately not to let go. Unfortunately, almost as soon as that pleasure had flooded her being it was gone entirely, replaced by the depressing realization as she sat up in bed that it had been nothing more than a very vividly detailed dream.

Oh sure, she and Tommy had had their talk the day after Trini's funeral, but the kiss was all just a figment of her imagination. With a heaving sigh she flopped back down against her pillows, closed her eyes, and tried determinately to taste his lips once again, silently wishing that more had happened that day then just the two of them agreeing to be friends. In the end, she had simply gone back to Florida the next morning, Tommy had stayed in Reefside, and for the past year or so they had been casual friends at best, exchanging semi-regular emails with each other and a phone call every once in a while for something really important.

Instead of recalling the kiss that had never even happened, Kimberly fairly quickly ended up drifting back off into a now dreamless sleep, peacefully oblivious to the baldheaded man who was currently standing outside her house in the dead of night, dressed in a long black trench coat and a pair of equally dark sunglasses, staring purposefully at her upstairs bedroom. Moments later a very smug grin crossed his lips; it was only a matter of time now.

--

The next morning saw Kimberly shooting down the streets of Miami in her car: a rebuilt, pink, 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible that she had only purchased a few months ago. She had the ragtop down, wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses as the breeze whipped through her long auburn locks. The dream from the night before had since been pushed aside, just as it had been so many times this past year, replaced by absolute focus as she prepared for one of the biggest days in her professional career.

This was bigger than the Pan Global Games, even bigger than the Sydney Olympics themselves. Her old coach, Gunter Schmidt, was visiting her gymnastics academy today, and if everything went well the plan was to turn her school into a satellite academy of sorts, a minor league team where the goal was to eventually reach Coach Schmidt in the majors. This, of course, in Kimberly's mind at least, would in turn lead to her ultimate promotion as well, replacing Coach Schmidt as the head coach of the United States Pan Global Gymnastics Team when he finally decided to retire; nearing his seventies now, she reasoned it could not have been too much longer before he decided to throw in the towel.

In the back of her head that sounded selfish, but the truth was that Kimberly was not longing for Coach Schmidt to retire, she had simply always wanted to be the best at whatever it was she was doing, and now that active competition had been replaced with coaching, her goal was to be the absolute best at that too. So long as she did not waver from her plan, she would be the one coaching the American women's team at the 2008 Olympic Games.

As she raced down the empty streets—fairly typical for six a.m. on a Monday—a wry grin formed on Kimberly's lips. She had her plans laid out so perfectly that nothing in the world was going to be able to stop her from achieving her ultimate goals. At least, that was what she had thought this morning anyway.

She pulled into the parking lot of her downtown school at six-forty that morning, a little later than usual, but then the line at Starbuck's had been a little longer than usual as well. As always she was the first to arrive, wanting to get in a quick morning workout before her staff showed up and the first wave of classes began. Unfortunately, she had barely locked the door behind herself after entering when the phone at the front desk started to ring.

Furrowing her brow, she turned around and started towards the phone, wondering who in the world would be calling her at this time of day, at her school no less. Surely if it was someone important they would have known to call her cell phone. With that thought in mind she decided not to answer it and let the call go to voicemail, but after disappearing into her office and returning ten minutes later the phone was still ringing.

"Alright, alright, I'll freaking answer it," she grumbled, shaking her head as she walked behind the desk, raising the phone to her ear and politely answering, "Triple Gold Gymnastics Academy, this is Kimberly, how can I help you?"

"Hello Kimberly, just the woman I was looking for," said a gentle, male voice. "My name is Joshua Weinstein and I'm with the law firm of Goldman, Miller, and Weinstein. I represent a man named Jared Grant, a man who has some information about you that I believe you would be most wise to listen to."

"Information?" questioned Kimberly, one arm folded across her chest, a clear look of confusion on her face. "What kind of information?"

Weinstein laughed eerily and said, "Information that can, beyond a shadow of a doubt, tie you to a group of people known across the world as the Power Rangers." There was a long pause after that, Kimberly staring out the front door of her school, her eyes trained on the streets of Miami as she stood with her mouth agape, until finally she heard, "Ms. Hart, are you there?"

Blinking rapidly, Kimberly quickly shook her head clear and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Weinstein. I've never met the Power Rangers, I don't know who they are, and I would appreciate it if you leave me alone and never call this number again."

Weinstein laughed once more, just as creepily as before. "Okay, Ms. Hart, I won't call this number ever again."

The line instantly clicked dead, leaving Kimberly staring at the phone in confusion for a few moments before returning it to the cradle. Five minutes later she was out on the main floor, using the balance beam to stretch her legs whilst her mind remained a jumbled mess as she thought about the call. It did not take long for her to become distracted, rendering her unable to concentrate on her workout, and so she decided to retire to her office instead, hoping that chain emails from Aisha and dirty jokes from Rocky would be enough to keep her mind away from Joshua Weinstein. As she turned for her office she did not see the man slowly approach the front door, dressed in a long black trench coat and staring intently at her back from behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

Luckily, it seemed Mr. Weinstein was sincere in his promise to never call her again. By mid-morning she had forgotten all about the call, and in the days that followed it became nothing more than an afterthought, utterly unimportant now that Coach Schmidt had given her school the passing grade it needed to become a training ground for the Pan Global teams. Everything falling into place like it was had left her on Cloud Nine, skipping Ten and Eleven and going straight to Twelve when Tommy had called to congratulate her following the mass email she had sent to all the other ex-Rangers.

Very little could have made her life any better, though deep down she knew what would have, but it only took one phone call to bring everything to a screeching halt. She had just finished her early afternoon class the following Friday and was sitting down in her black leather office chair when the cell phone sitting on her desk started to ring. The caller ID was blocked, but with a curious expression she flipped the device open, raised it to her hear, and said, "Hello?"

"Hello Kimberly," said a familiar voice. "It's Josh Weinstein again."

Somewhere between angered and frightened, Kimberly firmly replied, "Look, guy, I don't know what your problem is, but I thought you got the message when I told you never to call me again. I don't have anything else to say to you!"

"Then I suggest you listen," Weinstein snapped, sounding very angry himself. "I have names, Kimberly, maybe these will ring a bell to you: William Cranston—Blue Ranger; Rocky DeSantos—Red Ranger; Aisha Campbell—Yellow Ranger," he rattled off, Kimberly's eyes going wide in disbelief as he continued, "Adam Park—Black Ranger; Thomas Oliver—White Ranger; and you, Kimberly Hart, oh yes," he laughed cynically, "you were the cutest one of all, our very own little Pink Ranger."

With panic evident in her voice, Kimberly hastily responded, "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know any of those people, alright? Just—just leave me the hell alone!"

She quickly flipped her phone shut, throwing it onto her desk as though it had been burning a hole into her palm. How could someone actually know their identities? They had not spoken of their past since making the pact after Trini's funeral; well, she could not speak for everyone else of course, but she knew that at least she had remained firm in her silence. That also begged the question of why this man had come to her in the first place. If his information was as good as it sounded, certainly Tommy would have been a better target than herself.

Snatching her phone from the desk, Kimberly flipped it open and dialed a number with shaking hands, raising it to her ear while silently praying that Tommy answered. It was close to noon, maybe he would be on his lunch hour. Then the line clicked, causing her to let out a deep sigh of relief as she heard, "Hey Kim, what's up?"

"Tommy, I'm scared," she blurted out, rising to her feet and starting a nervous pace around her office. She approached her windows to insure they were all locked, pulling all the blinds and leaving the room shrouded in darkness.

"What's going on, Kim?" said Tommy, not even trying to hide his concern.

"Someone called me, Tommy. This wasn't the first time it's happened, either," Kimberly answered, slowly returning to her chair. "I ignored it the first time, but this time around he named names. He knows about us, Tommy: you, me, Adam, Aisha, Billy, Rocky…he even knew colors and everything."

The line was silent for a few moments after that, Tommy trying to process what he had just heard until eventually he said, "You're serious?"

Kimberly nodded despite the fact that Tommy could not see her, and quietly murmured, "As a heart attack, Tommy. I don't know what to do here and I'm really starting to freak out right now. What if he goes public, Tommy? What if everyone finds out about us? We'll never be able to live normal lives. What if the government comes after us and tries to turn us all into human experiments or something?"

"Relax, Kim, just take a deep breath for me, okay?" Tommy replied, pausing and listening, letting Kimberly know he would not continue until he heard said deep breath. Only when he did hear it did he add, "Alright, this is what I want you to do. Go home as soon as you can, pack a bag, and go straight to the Miami Airport. There'll be a ticket there for you to Los Angeles."

Kimberly shook her head. "I can't, Tommy. I've got too much going on here in Miami now that Coach Schmidt has finally endorsed my school. I can't just abandon it after all the hard work I've put into it; I won't."

With anyone else Tommy would have argued until he got his way, but with Kimberly he knew that any effort to do so would have been futile at best. She was just as stubborn as he was, and would fight him tooth and nail if that was what it took to get her way. Perhaps that was why he found himself still drawn to her after all these years; other than Kimberly, he had never had a woman who could push back at him just as hard as he did.

"Are you still carrying what I gave you last year?" asked Tommy, Kimberly telling him that she was indeed keeping the Power Coin on her person at all times. "Good," he continued. "Don't ever let it out of your sight. Lay low if you can, and try not to use it if you don't have to, but don't hesitate if you feel like you need it. If anything suspicious happens or for whatever reason you just don't feel safe, I want you to call me right away, okay?"

Sighing, Kimberly said, "I will, Tommy, thanks."

"No problem," Tommy murmured, unable to see the reassured smile that had formed on Kimberly's face. "Listen, Kim, I want you to know I'm not going to let anything happen to you, or any of the others for that matter. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, and when I do there's going to be hell to pay."

_And that's why I've always loved you,_ Kimberly thought silently to herself, though what she actually said was, "Don't do anything stupid, alright Tommy? I already lost Trini and I don't want to lose you as well."

Tommy laughed. "Aww, Kim, I didn't think you cared."

"I do care, Tommy," Kimberly replied, ending Tommy's laughter almost instantly. "Promise me you'll be safe."

"I promise, Kim," said Tommy, leaving no doubt in her mind that he was being serious. "I want you to promise me the same thing, though."

"I will," said Kimberly, feeling much more at ease than she had before calling him. "Bye, Tommy, take care."

"Bye, Kim."

The line clicked dead after that, Kimberly returning her phone to her desk as she leaned back in her chair and tightly squeezed her eyes shut, immediately wishing she had left them open. The only thing she could see was bodies: first Trini's, then Tommy's, then Jason's, and so on and so forth until all of the former Rangers were there, twisted and dead at the hands of the dark, shadowy figure standing in the distance, laughing cruelly at her expense.

--

Around three o'clock that afternoon, after nearly three hours of dwelling on the conversations she had had with Tommy and Josh Weinstein, Kimberly had finally had enough. Her head was becoming a cluttered mess once again and she needed something to distract her, something to keep her mind away from her fears for at least a short while. The promenade of the biggest shopping mall in Miami seemed like the perfect place for just that as she pulled into the parking lot, swinging her convertible into a spot near the entrance to Macy's. Thankfully, her staff was more than capable of keeping things running smoothly at the school while she stepped out for a few hours.

It did not take long at all for her worries to subside upon entering the mall, replaced by a sense of wondrous joy that only power shopping could bring her. She became a beaming ray of sunshine as she ducked in and out of damn near every store, a collection of bags growing steadily on her arms, filled with everything from books and movies to a revealing cocktail dress and a set of sexy black lingerie, the latter two having been purchased despite the fact that she had no one to show them off for.

She was truly at home when it came to shopping, and as she walked towards the food court she mused that she could have been the first to win Olympic gold in two entirely different sports had shopping been a sanctioned event. Simply put, there was no one on the planet who could match the love and knack for shopping that she had acquired over the years.

Some ten minutes later she approached a table in the food court, balancing a tray of food in one hand, a smoothie in the other, and roughly a dozen bags split between each arm. Carefully setting her lunch down on the table, she slid the bags from around her arm and onto the floor, taking her seat with a relaxed smile.

The grilled chicken Caesar salad and strawberry-banana smoothie hit the spot wonderfully, providing her some much needed nourishment as she engaged in another one of her favorite activities; people watching. There was something undeniably interesting to her about observing other people, their different mannerisms and things of that nature, the way every person she saw reminded her of someone she already knew. When she caught the side view of a young man with a ponytail wearing a white tee shirt, her thoughts instantly went to Tommy.

She was definitely worried about him—more so than she would ever be able to admit out loud—especially after what he had said to her on the phone earlier. Deep down, she knew that she would never be able to forgive herself if he went and got himself hurt or, God forbid, something even worse, at her expense no less. Tommy had always been one to act first and think later, and if that pattern held true then she was certain it would not be long before he once again wound up in the middle of trouble; but that was Tommy, he had never been the fearful type and she severely doubted that that would ever change.

The longer she sat there, the more she found herself wishing she had taken Tommy up on his offer to come to California. She did not need his protection, but had always taken great comfort in having it nonetheless. Plus she would have been able to keep a better eye on him, to make sure that he did not do anything stupid, something she could not presently control from more than five thousand miles away.

Thoughts of Tommy and his safety, however, were quickly put to rest when her eyes landed on someone else standing some fifty feet away, seemingly staring right at her beneath a pair of darkened sunglasses. He was well over six feet tall, baldheaded, wearing a black trench coat and boots that instantly gave Kimberly a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Then, for the briefest of moments she looked away, only to return her gaze to where he had been and discover that he was gone; not just from that spot, but disappeared entirely.

Moving for her oversized designer purse on the floor, she thought about calling Tommy but stopped mid-reach, silently telling herself that she was overreacting for no real reason whatsoever. Deciding that she had no reason to be worried, Kimberly returned to her meal and finished it with no more issues, and forty-five minutes later she was back at her school, re-energized and ready to take on the night's remaining classes.

The evening classes from six o'clock to eight-thirty were typically her most enjoyable as they predominately consisted of older and more experienced students who, for the most part, had aspirations of success that rivaled their teacher's. By the end of the night she was always dead tired, but equally satisfied with herself knowing that she was helping to train the next great wave of American gymnasts, and tonight was no exception.

Her whole body felt exhausted as she made her way to her car just before nine o'clock that night, wanting nothing more than a hot bath, her king sized bed, and an hour's worth of trashy reality television before drifting off to sleep. As all of her staff had already gone home for the evening the parking lot was empty sans her convertible, or at least that was what she had been thinking before setting her sights on a shadowy figure standing on the other end of the lot. It was too far away to tell for sure, but from what little she could make out the person seemed to be staring right at her.

Then the figure started slowly walking towards her and Kimberly felt that sense of nervousness from earlier return in full force. As he moved closer, Kimberly's eyes widened when she realized that it was the same black-clad man she had seen at the mall. Without even thinking her hand immediately went to the inside of her purse, her fingertips closing tightly around the gold coin resting at the bottom.

With each step he took towards the pink convertible her choices, of which she had two, became undoubtedly clear; either run away, or stand up for herself and fight like she had been taught to do. Grasping her Power Coin, she took a deep breath and dropped her purse onto the back seat of her car, knowing exactly what it was that needed to be done now.

When the man suddenly started running towards her, Kimberly gave herself just a moment's worth of mental preparation and then she was running as well, ready for a fight after six-plus years without one. As soon as they were within reach the pair dove head first at each other, colliding in midair as they grasped onto each other's forearms, simultaneously throwing one another down to the ground.

Kimberly landed with a hard thud on the asphalt, grimacing in pain as she hurriedly tried to push herself back onto her feet. The pain was unlike anything she had experienced since leaving the Rangers, at least physically that is, consciously reminding herself that she no longer had the full protection of the Power to prevent her body from sustaining major injuries.

By the time she was standing again the man was already moving towards her for a follow up attack. Somehow she found a way to dodge the majority of his punches and kicks, but eventually he was able to slam his heel into her stomach, causing her to cry out as she was thrown across the parking lot.

"Dammit!" she muttered, obviously frustrated as she scrambled onto her butt, slowly pushing herself into a standing position once more. As the man again charged her, Kimberly looked down at the coin in her hand and closed her fingertips around it, shutting her eyes and trying desperately to concentrate on the Power as she waved her arms in familiar form and yelled, "Ninja Ranger Power, now!"

The sensation that followed was nowhere near what it had once been, there was no great surge of energy, no blinding flash of pink light or rush of power to make her feel more alive, but it was enough to summon the old pink robes while giving her a slight increase in speed and strength, and right now that was all she needed. This time, when the man made to attack her again, she was more than ready to contend him.

Pink and black flew at each other for quite some time, fists and feet connecting with their targets multiple times as the battle raged on in the dark of night. Soon enough, though, Kimberly started to understand what Tommy had meant about the Power Coins; the support it gave to her was maybe one-hundredth of what it used to be, and within a matter of minutes it had started to fail her completely, her body flickering back and forth between her street clothes and pink robes.

"You cannot stop me, Kimberly," said the man, his voice deep and evil as he spoke for the first time, he and Kimberly circling each other, eyeing one another carefully. "You have no power to fight me and I have much of it. Give in, Pink Ranger, surrender to me and perhaps I will be merciful with you."

Feeling what little power she had rapidly leaving her, Kimberly shook her head and said, "Go to Hell," beckoning for him to come at her again. Laughing, her assailant obliged happily, only to be left looking around in surprise when Kimberly suddenly disappeared. Then she was behind him, and before he knew what had happened she had launched into a back flip, connecting with a thunderous kick to the back of the man's head that dropped him to the ground.

Throwing away all the things Zordon and her teammates had taught her about fighting with honor, Kimberly charged the man as he staggered onto his feet and slammed the toe of her white tennis shoe into his chin, his neck snapping back violently as he slumped face down in a heap. With her adrenaline pumping, certain that she had not stopped him for long, Kimberly swallowed hard and did the only thing that made sense; she ran.

Her outfit continued to alternate as she sprinted towards her car, having returned strictly to her street clothes when she jumped over the door and into the driver's seat. She made a mad dash for her purse behind her, retrieving her keys and thrusting them hard into the ignition before starting up the engine. The vehicle instantly sprang to life, Kimberly slamming on the gas pedal as she shot backwards out of her parking space. Braking quickly, she threw the car into Drive and hit the gas once more, this time driving straight towards the man, who was slowly returning to his feet.

The convertible's headlights cast an eerie glow over him as she sped closer and closer, squeezing her eyes shut, bracing for the impact that she knew was mere moments away. A loud thud came seconds later, causing her eyes to snap open as she looked up just in time to see the man's body flipping wildly through the air, catching his awkward and twisted landing in the rearview mirror with a triumphant grin on her face.

"Let's see you get up from that one, dickhead," she muttered, sounding quite pleased with herself as she turned her car onto the crowded streets of Miami, disappearing into the middle of an extended wave of evening traffic.

Still, as she drove towards her house she could not seem to shake the terrible feeling that she had not yet seen the last of this man, whoever he was. It had taken but a few moments of fighting with him for her to realize that his strength and speed were nowhere near that of a regular human, in fact they were even beyond superhuman, unlike anything or anyone she had ever fought before.

And for the second time that day Kimberly knew that there was only one person in the entire world that she needed to talk to; only one person in the entire world that she _could _talk to. She quickly recovered her phone from inside her purse and dialed Tommy, barely able to listen to half of the first ring when the line clicked over.

"Are you alright?" Tommy demanded, wasting no time in getting straight to the point.

Closing her eyes briefly, Kimberly nodded to herself as she murmured, "Yeah, I'm alright, but just barely."

"What happened?"

Kimberly sighed and then proceeded to spend the next five minutes telling Tommy about everything, from seeing the man at the mall, to fighting him in the parking lot and running him over. The last part made Tommy laugh for some reason, and it was an infectious laugh because moments later she was laughing right along with him, the pair joking about what she must have looked like speeding into this man in a pink convertible. Still, the simple fact of the matter was that she had been lucky to escape, and Tommy was quick to remind her of this.

"I know," she replied, shaking her head as she turned into her neighborhood. "And I've been thinking more and more about your offer to come back to California since this morning. I don't want to leave my school behind, but the God's honest truth is that the school won't even matter if I'm not alive to run it."

"Well, the offer still stands," said Tommy.

A small smile crossed Kimberly's lips as she said, "Thank you, I really appreciate that. My cousin Kelly turned seventeen a couple days ago, and I promised to take her shopping tomorrow to celebrate. Would you be willing to pick me up if I flew in, like, really late Saturday night or super early on Sunday morning?"

"Yeah, of course," Tommy replied, a clear hint of eagerness in his voice. "Just call me when you figure out your plans, let me know what's going on, and I'll be there."

"Thanks again, Tommy," said Kimberly, leaving no doubt in the way she spoke as to how grateful she truly was. "I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate this. I just…I don't feel safe in Florida anymore."

"I understand completely, Kim, and you're welcome," said Tommy, stifling a yawn. "You gonna be okay until tomorrow?"

Kimberly chuckled. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Have a good night, Tommy."

"Yeah," said Tommy, this time letting out his yawn without even trying to stop it. "You too, Kim."

Smiling to herself, Kimberly closed her phone and dropped it back into her purse, unable to deny that she felt exponentially safer knowing that very shortly she was going to have Tommy at her side once more, giving her that much needed boost of confidence that she so desperately needed right now.

--

The next afternoon Kimberly was back at the mall, this time walking with a companion, a seventeen year-old young lady who could have been an exact replica of her older cousin had they been a bit closer in age. Young Kelly Hart was the spitting image of Kimberly, reminding the former Pink Ranger so much of what she herself had been like as a teenager, minus the whole saving the world in spandex thing, of course.

They had been walking around for nearly two hours now, bouncing in and out of stores, hitting all four floors and giggling like thirteen year-old girls when one or the other would point out a member of the opposite gender they found attractive, but so far they had yet to purchase anything. When this realization finally struck her, Kimberly turned to Kelly with a disbelieving expression on her face as they passed an electronics store and said, "So what do you want for your birthday, kiddo?"

Letting her eyes wander as a young man in a leather jacket walked by her, Kelly followed his movements for a few more moments before looking back at Kimberly and shrugging. "I dunno. I guess I don't really want anything to be honest. Unless you want to give me your car, because I will _totally_ take that."

Kimberly laughed and shook her head. "Keep dreaming and maybe one day your wish will come true."

Kelly joined her cousin in laughter and said, "Alright, alright, how about we just go get some lunch and call it even."

Freezing on the spot, Kimberly turned to Kelly, folded her arms across her chest, rolled her eyes, and grabbed Kelly by the wrist, dragging her along as she replied, "And here I was thinking you were a Hart girl. Here's a little tip for you, Kelly, if someone says they want to buy you a gift, pick something a _little_ bit more expensive than lunch."

"But I'm hungry," Kelly half-whined, looking longingly at the food court two stories below where they stood on the top level.

"Don't worry, we'll eat," said Kimberly, smiling at Kelly as they stopped in front of a clothing store, "but not before we get you a couple of new outfits first."

The thought of new clothes left Kelly with a wry grin on her face as she nodded her approval, she and Kimberly turning for the door at the same time only to have her older cousin grab her arm and throw her down for no apparent reason. From her position on the ground, Kelly looked up just in time to see Kimberly bend backwards to avoid an incoming punch from a creature that seemed oddly familiar to the younger woman.

"Kelly, get out of here!" Kimberly yelled, chaos breaking out all around them as more of the creatures made their way towards the former Pink Ranger. Throwing herself into a jumping spin kick that Jason had taught her, Kimberly dropped one of her attackers to the ground, whirling around and taking another one out with a shot to the head from her oversized purse. She then reached into her purse, extracted her keys, and tossed them to a visibly confused and scared Kelly. Quickly discarding her purse behind a potted plant, Kimberly turned to Kelly and added, "You got your wish, now get the hell out of here! Take my car and go, Kelly, now!"

"What about you?" Kelly argued meekly as she slowly rose back to her feet.

"Don't worry about me!" Kimberly replied, dodging the attacks of more creatures. "Just get your ass out of here! I'll call you as soon as I can!"

Kelly seemed to struggle with what to do for a few moments, but the next time she locked eyes with Kimberly her older cousin gave her a look that left no more room for argument. Swallowing hard, Kelly nodded her understanding, turned around, and ran away with the rest of the panicked shoppers, leaving Kimberly alone to fight whatever these creatures were.

They looked strikingly like Rita's old Putty Patrollers, only instead of being grey with black stripes the colors had been inverted. That, however, as Kimberly soon realized, was where the similarities stopped. These foot soldiers were much stronger than both Rita and Zedd's Putties, faster and vastly more intelligent as well. They did not attack blindly or wildly, but with precision and clear intent, obviously made from someone with capabilities that far exceeded the power of her old adversaries.

For as long and as best she could Kimberly continued to fight these new soldiers, but it did not take long for it to become apparent that she would not be able to handle all of them by herself. Looking to create an opening to run, she swung her fist hard at one of the foot soldiers, only to be left staring at its face in disbelief when her hand simply passed through it, leaving her hand with a very cool, moist sensation, as though having just tried to punch her way through a very heavy rain cloud.

"What the—" she started, her words turning into an inaudible grunt when one of the foot soldiers connected with a punch to her chest, throwing her back some twenty-five feet away. She landed hard on the floor but gave no thought to her pain, only the fact that being tossed across the mall had put a fair amount of distance between she and the foot soldiers.

Scrambling back onto her feet, she made to run away, but froze almost instantly upon seeing her purse lying midway between herself and these dark creatures. Her Power Coin was in there, and if things ended up getting worse she was definitely going to need it. Making up her mind rather quickly, she took off running to her purse at the same time as the foot soldiers started to charge her once more.

With every ounce of graceful agility she could muster she threw herself into a baseball slide on the linoleum floor, snatching up her purse as she slid beneath the open legs of one of the foot soldiers. Her rapid momentum allowed her to easily shoot back onto her feet, launching into an immediate front flip that saw her soar over many a foot soldier's head before landing behind them and taking off running again. The creatures, of course, quickly gave chase.

"Why doesn't that shit surprise me?" Kimberly muttered to herself, looking back over her shoulder at the foot soldiers as she ran through what was now a very empty mall. Most of the shops had since turned their lights off and many had lowered garage-style steel doors to cover their entrances and windows as well, leaving the mall with a much darker tone to it than she was accustomed to seeing.

How she had missed it the day before she did not know, but as she ran towards the opposite end of the mall, her heart thudding quickly against her chest, she realized that it was completely closed off due to some kind of construction. Yellow caution tape and orange cones were her only obstacle though, so without thinking twice she flipped into the construction area, landing atop the hard wooden surface of a four-story platform.

Turning to check on the progress of the foot soldiers, with every intention of forming the next part of her escape, Kimberly's plans were thrown out the window when she heard a crack beneath her feet and looked down to see the board she was standing on split right down the middle. The realization of what was about to happen could be seen on her face just seconds before she started to fall.

Screaming loudly, she dropped a full story onto the next platform, bracing herself for it to break as well, but it never did. Instead, Kimberly's momentum caused her to roll off the edge, losing every barrier she had to slow and impede the remainder of her four-story drop to the ground below. Tumbling wildly through the air, Kimberly closed her eyes and tried her best to prepare herself for what she was certain would be the end of her life.

Thinking about all the things she still wanted to do, the people she would never get to say goodbye to, time seemingly slowed down all around her as she heard a distant cry in the back of her head, a cry that grew more distinct with every falling inch that took her closer to the floor. Then there was a sudden rush of energy the likes of which she had not experienced for many, many years, followed by a burst of pink light that left Kimberly shrouded in her Ninja robes, her face hidden behind her pink hood and mask.

With no idea as to what was happening, Kimberly simply gave in and allowed the Power to take control over her, guiding her body from a wild fall into a slow, graceful front flip that allowed her to land on one knee on the ground floor, entirely free from any and all injury. But happy as she was to be alive, the reprieve she was given lasted only a few seconds before the foot soldiers were jumping down after her.

Remaining in her position on the floor, she waited until the last possible moment and then launched herself high into the air, taking out a handful of foot soldiers with some well aimed kicks prior to landing safely amongst a half dozen motionless black-and-grey bodies.

The next kick she threw should have taken the intended foot soldier's head off, but the result was something very similar to what Kimberly had experienced on the fourth floor just minutes earlier, a wet sensation on her leg as it passed through the soldier's head without harm, this time her swinging momentum causing her to tumble to the ground as a result.

"What is your guys deal?" Kimberly muttered, slamming her fists against the floor in frustration, angrily staggering back to her feet. As she quickly learned, though, the foot soldiers were not about to give her another chance to do more damage to their ranks. Every single punch and kick she threw from there on in did nothing but glide through their intended targets harmlessly, to the point that her anger and frustration started to shift into panic and fear each and every time they knocked her back down.

She was running out of options now that she could not fight them, and once again it became clear to her that her only choice was to run. Back on one knee, she slowly lifted her eyes towards the fourth floor and pushed off with all her might, throwing herself into a soaring back flip, flying through the air as high as she possibly could. They might have been able to jump down after her, but she hoped to God they could not fly like she could.

Unfortunately, as high as she possibly could was much higher than Kimberly could ever have anticipated it being. Not only did she reach the fourth floor, but passed it entirely, enough so that she found herself breathing fresh air after shattering the mall's glass ceiling. For the few moments it lasted it was really a tremendous experience, especially since she now knew the Power was there in full force to protect her, although how that had had happened she was not sure.

"Hoooooooooooolyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—" Kimberly started to yell, her words drifting off as gravity began bringing her back down, her body crashing through another piece of glass en route to the floor below. Landing effortlessly on her feet inside a circle of startled and confused foot soldiers, shards of glass raining down on and around them, she casually dusted off her hands as she looked to one of the soldiers and oh-so-sweetly asked, "So, did you guys miss me or what?"

The foot soldiers all turned to look at one another, scratching their heads as though unsure of what had just happened, giving Kimberly the exact opportunity that she needed to get out of this place once and for all. Dropping down to one knee again, she launched into another graceful back flip, this time gauging her distance much more accurately than her previous attempt. She landed with ease on the fourth floor, immediately turning for Sears and the bridge that would ultimately lead to the parking garage.

No sooner had she reached said bridge, however, than she realized her attempts to reach the parking garage had been utterly pointless, nothing more than a waste of time since she had given Kelly the keys to her car. Feeling very much frustrated with herself, Kimberly mused that she had at least remembered her purse and could call Tommy to arrange a flight out of Miami as soon as was humanly possible.

Ducking into the parking garage, Kimberly ran in search of an elevator, somewhere she could power down in hiding before trying to blend back in with the rest of the civilian population gathered outside the mall. She could see news vans and camera crews down below, and as she slipped into an elevator her only thoughts were focused on praying that they had not somehow managed to catch her in action without her noticing. Exposed identities at this stage of the game was something she simply could not handle right now.

Several hours later, following a cab ride home and a handful of phone calls between Tommy, American Airlines, Kelly, and a few of her staff members, Kimberly was sitting on a plane on her way to Los Angeles. That she was flying first class with compensated adult beverages was a small comfort to what had otherwise been a tumultuous two-day experience. Perhaps feeling a bit guilty about what had happened, and maybe even somewhat unnerved as well, she had surprised both herself and Kelly by giving her younger cousin the convertible as her birthday present, a car that had once been her most valued possession but that also seemed rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things now that her life was on the line.

Oh, how she had so gotten used to living the quiet life, or at least a life that did not involve surprise attacks by evil villains at random intervals throughout the day. While she held her time as a Ranger dear to her heart, that was definitely one of the things she did not miss when it came to being one of Earth's defenders.

Just as he had said he would be, Tommy was waiting for her with a smile on his face when she stepped off the plane, looking a bit tired, though she mostly attributed that to the fact that it was damn near midnight. He greeted her with a warm hug, genuinely happy to see her alive and in one piece after what she had been through these past two days.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked, not really needing to hear her answer to know the truth as he gently led her through the airport.

"Exhausted," Kimberly admitted, looking up at Tommy and managing a small smile. "After all these years I honestly forgot what it felt like to go through this kind of stuff. Not to mention those guys were so much different than anything I've ever fought before. It was crazy the way my shots would just pass through them, like, you want so bad to just kick all their asses, but at the same time knowing that you can't do anything about it."

Giving her a one-armed hug, rubbing the side of her arm, Tommy nodded his understanding and said, "I know exactly how you feel. I'm just glad you're okay."

He started to remove his arm from around her shoulder at that point, only to end up keeping it right where it was when Kimberly slipped her own arm around his waist and leaned into his side. He simply could not help but to allow himself to fall back into old habits, of which this was obviously one. There was just something about being close to her that made him feel so much more at ease, and if Kimberly was honest with herself she was experiencing a very similar reaction to his.

The fear and nervousness were gone as soon as she had seen him, and as they walked towards baggage claim she somehow instinctively knew that everything was going to be okay. They remained silent for a few minutes as they navigated the less than crowded airport, but as they passed by a sports bar Tommy pointed to a television inside and said, "You made quite an impression, you know."

Kimberly furrowed her brow in confusion and asked, "What are you talking about?" Grinning, Tommy brought their walk to a halt and further directed her towards the television screen, where a national news channel was currently playing footage of the Pink Ninja Ranger fighting an army of black-and-grey foot soldiers in the Miami mall a few hours earlier, accompanied by a scrolling marquee at the bottom of the screen which was continuously repeating the phrase _Pink Is Back In Style_. With wide, disbelieving eyes, she slowly turned to Tommy and murmured, "They know it was me?"

Laughing, Tommy shook his head. "Nope," he replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "I watched it on seven different channels and each newscaster said they were quote 'unable to obtain any un-morphed footage of the returning Pink Ranger.' I gotta admit, Kim, for as long as it's been since you've done this, you looked pretty damn impressive out there."

"Really?" said Kimberly, a clear hint of pride in her voice as she tried not to blush. Tommy's approval on the battlefield, whether he knew it or not, had always meant a great deal to her, and as he nodded his confirmation she mused that his compliment could not have come at a better time than now, when she felt just as uncertain about her abilities as she had the first day she had accepted the pterodactyl Power Coin.

"Yeah," said Tommy, smiling brightly. "You were awesome. That flip through the ceiling was one of the craziest things I've ever seen in my life."

"Eh, I guess it was alright," said Kimberly, shrugging her shoulders casually while trying hard not to sound too pleased with herself.

Tommy just rolled his eyes playfully and let out a soft chuckle as they again started towards baggage claim, Kimberly's arm immediately finding his waist as his own arm went around her shoulder once more; and for the first time in a long time, everything seemed right in the world of Kimberly Hart.

Sadly, it would not remain that way for very much longer.


	3. Stone Canyon Sunset

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter 2 - Stone Canyon Sunset**_

_**Original Posting Date: April 5, 2009**_

--

Laying in his king sized bed, surrounded by darkness, Rocky DeSantos could not help but smile as he stared up at the ceiling in a pleasant daze, his hands folded behind his head. The calm and steady breathing of his bedside companion was the primary reason for his smile, causing him to still wonder after ten months of marriage how he had been so very lucky. Flipping over onto his side, he gently ran the backside of his hand through Aisha's long black locks, its wondrous and subtle scent stirring a powerful desire in him even at this ungodly hour of the morning.

Rocky severely doubted that she would ever know how much she truly meant to him, she who had always been there for him, even at his darkest of hours. Feeling the need to be even closer to her, he draped his arm around her sleeping body and tucked her in against his chest, careful not to stir her from her peaceful slumber. She, unlike Rocky, did not have an internal alarm clock that caused her to wake up at four-thirty every morning regardless of what she had been doing the night before. He could have been out drinking until two o'clock that morning and still would have been awake at the same time, ready and able to start the day.

Four years in the United Stated Army had done that to him, turning Rocky from a young man with a self-admitted lazy streak into an adult who now understood what it had meant when his mother had relentlessly lectured him as a child about there being a right time and a wrong time to be the goofball he so loved being. Entering the armed forces had never been something he had envisioned for himself in his youth, but two years after retiring from active duty not a day went by that he did not thank his lucky stars for having enlisted.

After all, it was the Army that had brought he and Aisha back together. Sometimes, if he closed his eyes and concentrated really hard, he could still recall that exact moment when he had seen her for the first time since they had gone on their separate quests for the five Zeo Sub-Crystals. Though at the time it had seemed like a terrible way to reconnect, in retrospect he could now easily rank it as one of the greatest moments of his entire life.

Of course, he had not been expecting to run into his old friend and former teammate when he and his fellow soldiers had been deployed on a mission to a remote nation in Africa called Sangea, specifically to a guerilla military complex ran by an old general attempting to overthrow the country's democratic government. The general and his men had been killing families mercilessly, kidnapping the young boys and brainwashing them into becoming unwilling soldiers, and so Rocky and his company had been sent to put an end to it once and for all.

He could hear loud, repetitive machine gun fire as they approached a small village outside the Rishnika Forest, accompanied by screams that became more dreadful to hear with each passing step that took them closer to the village. They moved through the forest in perfect silence, faces painted in green, black, and brown as they stealthily crept in on what appeared to be a public execution in the making. From his position behind a fallen tree trunk he could see several men, women, and children, all lined up on their knees with their fingers interlocked behind their heads, a machine gun trained on each person while a tall, dark man in military fatigues barked at them in a language Rocky did not recognize.

The next thing he remembered was a sudden lump in his throat, followed by an unavoidable sense of panic when one of the captives tilted her head ever so slightly in his direction. Despite the two hundred feet of forest that separated them there was no mistaking the face of Aisha Campbell, especially not through the scope of his automatic rifle that was now trained firmly on the armed man standing behind her.

"Bravo Leader, this is Bravo One," Rocky whispered into his radio, his trigger finger itching more and more with each second that went by without action. "If we don't do something soon, sir, those people are going to die."

"I'm aware of that soldier," was the reply that came a few moments later. "Maintain your position and wait for my order. On my signal I want those gunmen taken out; leave no one alive but the civilians and General Diobu. Bravo One, order your men to use non-fatal shots on Diobu, is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir," Rocky murmured, simultaneously motioning the orders to his fellow soldiers with a series of intricate hand signals. "Bravo One, over and out."

For what seemed like hours, though it was really less than one minute, Rocky kept his weapon locked on the man standing behind Aisha, waiting with baited breath for his superior's signal to shoot. When it finally came, Rocky did not hesitate to fire the first bullet, taking out the gunman with one well-aimed shot to the center of his forehead. Unfortunately, chaos ensued as a few of the gunmen dropped dead to the dirt ground, the civilians breaking out in a panic that made it virtually impossible to aim accurately.

The African soldiers who had not already been eliminated reacted with vengeance at their general's orders, firing shot after shot into the crowd of people attempting to scurry to safety as well as at the Americans in the forest. Knowing that he only had one choice in this situation, Rocky did not wait for approval and instead turned to his men and yelled, "Move in! Kill each and every one of those bastards!"

In an instant, multiple flurries of green, black, and brown burst out from their hiding places, rushing towards the village with their guns at the ready. By the time Rocky had reached the edge of the forest the casualties had increased tenfold, and to make matters even worse he had somehow lost sight of Aisha. In a moment of confliction he was forced to choose between his emotions and his mission, finding Aisha or eliminating the rest of the African soldiers.

"Let's do both," Rocky muttered to himself, squeezing the trigger of his rifle, sending a flurry of bullets spraying in every direction. All around him civilians and soldiers alike were dropping like flies, bloodcurdling screams filling the air each and every time a mother saw her child die, until at last the gunfire ceased when the final African soldier had been killed.

Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of bodies surrounded him as he looked around at the rest of his men that had managed to stay alive. He started to speak, to congratulate them on a job well done, but his mouth snapped shut as he noticed something moving out of the corner of his eye, disappearing into a small cave a ways off in the distance.

"Stay here," Rocky ordered, turning and sprinting towards the cave before anyone had time to question him. He had been too far away to tell who it was exactly, but he was certain that he had seen a man dragging a woman into the cave, a man who looked like General Diobu and a woman who looked Aisha. At that moment, whether it was her or not, his thoughts became solely focused on saving the endangered woman.

As he approached the cave he slowed his pace to a quick walk, careful to make sure he remained unheard as he slipped quietly inside, his gun freshly reloaded and ready to fire if need be. Creeping deeper into the cave, he noticed a faint glow coming from around a bend and immediately started in that direction, knowing he was getting closer when the sound of a male voice reached his ears.

"You have no idea what I'm going to do to you do you, my pretty little American?" questioned the man, in heavily accented English, causing Rocky's eyes to go wide. "Let me tell you what I will do. First I am going to tie you down, then I am going to tear your clothes off piece by piece, and after that I am going to—"

"Hey, dickhead," said Rocky, the man whirling around in surprise only to have the butt of Rocky's rifle driven straight into his face, dropping him to the ground in a heap. He spared only the briefest of looks to a frightened and badly beaten Aisha before falling to his knees, rolling an unconscious General Diobu onto his belly. Retrieving a zip-tie from his belt, he hastened to secure Diobu's hands behind his back, then rose to his feet and delivered a kick with his heavy boot to side of the general's head for good measure before moving to tend to Aisha.

Her eyes were damn near swollen shut, but even then there was no mistaking the man who had saved her life. "Rocky?" she murmured, tears filling her eyes. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Rocky breathed, dropping to one knee at her side. "Are you okay?"

Aisha gave a tremendous shudder as she thought about what had nearly happened to her, nodding her head while whispering, "I am now." With newfound strength she threw her arms around Rocky's neck, hugging him for dear life as she added, "My God, I can't believe it's really you. How did you find me?"

Biting back his own emotions, Rocky pulled back slightly and said, "There'll be time for that later, right now we need to get you to a medic right away. Do you think you can manage to walk a few hundred feet or so?"

Again Aisha nodded, this time attempting a slow and ginger rise to her feet that Rocky was quick to aid. She had to use the wall to steady herself for a few moments, but regained her bearings shortly thereafter and was able to take a couple of timid steps without aid. As she did so, Rocky seized General Diobu by the back of his fatigues and hoisted him into a standing position, slapping his cheek repeatedly until his eyes slowly flickered back into consciousness.

"Walk, or I break both of your legs and drag you myself," Rocky muttered bitterly, pushing the man towards the cave opening. Training his gun on Diobu's back, he turned to Aisha and quietly added, "Stay behind me, okay? I wouldn't be surprised if he called for backup during the firefight."

"He didn't," said Aisha, confidently. "As soon as you guys started shooting I went after him. That's how I ended up like this. I was conscious the whole time though, and I didn't hear him call for backup."

Rocky nodded his understanding. "That's fine, but I still want you behind me just in case. Hopefully my guys will have radioed for a chopper by now. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Luckily, Aisha was right and General Diobu had not summoned reinforcements, or, if he had, they had yet to arrive; either way it was a good sign. Plus, he could hear the sound of a helicopter in the distance growing closer and closer by the moment. Upon reaching his fellow soldiers he thrust Diobu at their feet and said, "Take care of him." Then he turned to a Hispanic man in his early twenties and added, "Rodriguez, give me your med-kit."

The man named Rodriguez quickly followed orders, swinging the pack on his back around and retrieving a small green box which he then tossed to Rocky. Snatching the container, Rocky nodded his thanks and then turned to Aisha, leading her away from all the bodies, to the makeshift porch of a nearby hut. Setting her down carefully, Rocky lowered himself to one knee and opened the box, reaching inside and saying, "Give me your arm."

Aisha obeyed without hesitation, trusting Rocky with her life. "What are you doing?" she asked, as Rocky unscrewed the stopper of a small vial and made to pour its clear liquid contents onto the deep gash across her forearm.

"Squeeze my other hand as hard as you can," said Rocky, ignoring her question, waiting until she had done so before adding, "This is going to sting a bit…a lot, actually."

Biting down on her lip, Aisha nodded and said, "Just get it over with."

Rocky did, and what followed next was exactly what he expected, a high-pitched scream that sent chills running up and down his spine. He felt terrible but knew that it was a necessary evil to insure the wound did not become infected. Using his teeth to tear away a patch of his sleeve, he then dabbed at her arm to wipe away the blood while reaching for the roll of gauze inside the med-kit at the same time. He quickly bandaged her arm, and then moved through a similar process to her right shin and left knee. It definitely was not much, and she would certainly need to see a real doctor, but he had done his best with what little he had to work with.

"I can give you a shot of morphine if you want," Rocky informed her. "It'll ease the pain until we can get you to a doctor."

Smiling graciously at Rocky, Aisha shook her head and said, "I'm not in that much pain. I think my ankle might be sprained, but other than that and the obvious cuts and bruises I feel okay. I'm just really, really grateful that you showed up when you did. I honestly didn't think I had a chance at making it out of that cave alive."

Rocky winced. "Yeah, definitely," he agreed, not even wanting to think of what would have happened to her had he not somehow caught that faint glimpse of her disappearing into the cave with General Diobu. Not really knowing what else to say, he simply sat beside her as they waited for the helicopter to arrive. He watched her discreetly while she looked around at the death and destruction that surrounded them, feeling his heart break piece by piece as tears started to fill her eyes once more. "I'm really sorry about your friends, 'Sha," he murmured, reaching out for her hand, taking it ever so gently. "We tried our best not to lose any innocents, but obviously we just weren't good enough this time."

Turning to look at him, Aisha blinked back her tears rapidly, shaking her head vigorously as she replied, "Don't talk like that, Rocky. I know what it's like to be a soldier too, remember? If you and your men hadn't shown up when you did we all would have died. Because of you, not only were some of them able to escape, but you also got the man who was single handedly responsible for all of the terrible things that have happened to this country. You're a hero, Rocky, regardless of the casualties; not just to this country, but to me as well."

Rocky started to tell her something, but was cutoff by the powerful roar of the helicopter's engine as it started its descent towards the ground below. "Come on!" he yelled, helping her onto her feet. "Let's get out of here!"

With his arm around her shoulder he led her to the helicopter, accompanying Diobu and two fellow soldiers named Adamson and Jeffries; the rest of their men would have to return to the rendezvous point on the other side of the forest to await transport back to base.

"What are you thinking about?" Aisha whispered, stirring Rocky from his memories.

Grinning, Rocky placed a kiss to the back of her neck, surprised that he had woken her, and murmured, "The day I fell in love with you."

Aisha quickly flipped onto her side to face him, smiling brightly as she reached out to touch his cheek, quietly asking him, "When was that?"

"The second I saw you for the first time after you had left home," Rocky replied, his head resting on his outstretched arm, Aisha mimicking his pose. "You have no idea how scared I was for you that day."

"Yeah, but you just swept in and saved the day, didn't you?" said Aisha, nipping at his lips for a quick kiss. Touching his naked chest, she ran her fingertips along its hard planes ever so softly, right over the top of the _549_ military tattoo on his left pectoral muscle as she continued, "You know, I still can't believe I almost stayed behind when you had to leave. I remember just sitting there in my hospital room alone, wondering how in the world I was going to live without you now that you had come crashing back into my life."

Rocky chuckled slightly. "What'd you come up with?"

"That I couldn't," Aisha answered, recalling that moment of clarity with a very fond smile. "I'm so glad I decided to come home."

"Me too," said Rocky, kissing her as he regretfully threw the sheets away from his legs, exposing his red-and-blue striped boxer shorts. Pulling back, he moved to climb out of bed as he added, "I gotta get ready for work, baby."

Giving him her best pouted lips, Aisha nodded and accepted his parting kiss, watching him exit their bed and disappear into the bathroom before flipping back over and closing her eyes. In just a matter of moments she had drifted back to sleep, smiling peacefully to herself as she dreamed happy dreams, all of them centered around her last two years with Rocky. They had been the happiest, most amazing two years of her life, and deep down she could only see herself becoming even happier as time wore on.

Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to both she and Rocky, at that moment everything she had come to know over those two years was about to come to a screeching halt. The man wearing a black trench coat and dark sunglasses, standing outside the DeSantos home as he stared at the upstairs bedroom window, was absolutely certain of this fact.

--

With the sun just starting to rise behind him and box after cardboard box stacked on one top of another, making it damn near impossible to see anything at all, Rocky carefully removed a hand from beneath the containers and slipped it into his jeans pocket, retrieving his key ring as he approached a glass door. After letting himself into the darkened building, he quickly made his way to a nearby counter and set the boxes down, then rushed through a set of swinging double doors to disable the alarm. Once that was taken care of he flipped a few nearby switches and gave light to the place, revealing a stock room filled with so much food and equipment it made him laugh out loud.

"God, I love this place," he murmured to himself, quietly returning to the room he had entered through, a room that was vastly more spacious than the stock room.

From his place behind the service counter Rocky could see it all: the blue mats on the main floor; the punching bags just a few feet away; all kinds of workout equipment in another corner; video games and pinball machines off to the side of the counter; round tables surrounded by chairs. It was, in essence, an exact replica of the Angel Grove Youth Center, Gym, and Juice Bar where he had spent so much of his time back in high school. The Stone Canyon version had come on a whim, Rocky in desperate need of something to do after leaving the military to settle down with Aisha; and since the Youth Center in Angel Grove had always presented so many happy memories, opening his own center had seemed like a great decision at the time.

Looking back on it now, Rocky could honestly say that opening up his own Youth Center had easily been one of the best decisions he had ever made. Aside from his marriage to the love of his life, the former Red and Blue Ranger found no greater pleasure than running his business, a place where generation after generation of teenagers could find the same things he had been exposed to at their age. Deep down, if not for his friends and places like this, Rocky was certain his life would have taken a turn entirely different then what it had.

Coming from a family with seven brothers and sisters, all of them being raised by a single mom who had worked two jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, he could have easily gone down the dark path that so many others in his situation did. He could still remember being ten years old, seeing the look on his mother's face when his seventeen year-old brother had been killed in a drive-by shooting at the hands of a rival gang. It was at that moment, at the tender age of ten, that he decided he would not allow himself to follow in his elder brother's footsteps, mostly because he could not imagine putting his mother through that type of pain ever again.

Pushing thoughts of his deceased brother aside, Rocky moved to lock the door and then went about moving the boxes from their stacked position into a line across the counter top. After retrieving a box cutter from under the counter he started cutting the boxes open one by one, revealing every kind of fruit imaginable—and even a few vegetables as well—all of them purchased this morning, fresh from a local farmer's market just outside of town.

It took nearly an hour to go through his usual opening procedures, and by seven-fifteen he was all ready to open the doors at eight, an hour before the first bell at Stone Canyon High. Seeing as how he had forty-five minutes to spare, Rocky quickly changed into the red karate gi and black belt he kept in the stock room, then made his way down to the main floor and one of four blue mats that sat ten or so feet apart from each other.

Moving through an intricate kata, mixing in some flips and twists here and there, Rocky remained oblivious to the man standing outside the Youth Center, the same man who had been standing outside the DeSantos home just a few hours earlier. Then, before Rocky knew it, it was ten minutes to eight and a few kids had already appeared at the door. Deciding to cut his workout short and open a little bit early this morning, he ducked back into the stock room and reappeared three minutes later in his street clothes.

For the next hour the Youth Center was a bona fide madhouse, Rocky thanking his lucky stars that he somehow still remained the only game in town. He was very much like his portly predecessor, Ernie, making smoothies and toasting bagels, going about his work but always there to lend an ear and some friendly advice to a teenager in need.

As nine o'clock grew nearer the kids started disappearing, and shortly thereafter he was alone once more. It took him close to half-an-hour to get everything cleaned up, and once he was done with that he simply left, locking the door behind him before hopping into his blue Ford Explore and driving off. The hours, he thought to himself as he navigated the streets of Stone Canyon, were excellent.

Since all of his patrons were in school right now there was no sense in remaining open; he would return shortly before noon to tackle the lunch rush, and then disappear for a few more hours until school let out for the day. By six o'clock the doors were locked, and more often than not he ended up getting home right around the same time as Aisha.

He spent his off hours in various ways depending on the day: some days he would spend teaching karate classes at the dojo he had attended as a child; other times he would just go home and catch up on some of the sleep he had more than likely missed the night before; and on rare occasions, like today, he had the fortune of spending a few hours with his wife, who this week happened to be on vacation from her job as a veterinarian at a clinic in a nearby town.

Unfortunately, his plans of going home and making love to his wife were placed on an immediate hold as he approached an intersection; he had the green light and was going close to fifty miles per hour, but a hunched over person in all black was currently walking through the crosswalk right in the path of oncoming traffic.

"Son of a bitch," said Rocky, bracing himself. Slamming on his brakes, he swerved hard to avoid the person and ended up spinning out as a result, the rear driver's side of his SUV swinging hard into the steel pole of the traffic light. His airbag was instantly deployed, pressing him back against his seat as he muttered a few choice curse words to himself. Luckily, there were no cars behind him and he still had the box cutter in his pocket, which he used to pop the airbag before stumbling out of the car and onto the sidewalk. It took a few moments of being hunched over for him to regain his breath, and once he had done so he slowly raised his eyes to the person he had nearly hit. "What the hell were you thinking?" he yelled, clenching his fists at his side as he approached the bald-headed man. "You could have gotten us both killed!"

The man's eyes glimmered at that moment, though Rocky could not see them for they were hidden behind a pair of very dark sunglasses. Rocky could, however, see the smirk on the man's face as he replied, "Mr. DeSantos, I assure you, it was only my intention for you to die."

Rocky cocked his fist back, but stopped short upon hearing his name, his eyes going wide as he stared at the man in a mixture of confusion and shock. "Who are you?" he demanded angrily. "How do you know my name?"

Laughing heartily, the man shook his head and said, "Oh, it is not just your name I know, Red Ranger; or is it Blue? I'm never sure what to call you people when you wear different colors. Mr. Oliver will certainly be the worst. If you could only be as simple as your little yellow wife."

"You leave my wife out of this!" Rocky seethed, seizing the man by the collar of his black trench coat, throwing him against the hood of the Explorer. "I don't know who you are, or what you're trying to pull here, but if you ever want to take another breath I suggest you leave right now. I've killed fifty-seven men, nineteen of them with nothing but my bare hands; rest assured I have no problem making you numbers fifty-eight and twenty."

Standing up straight, the man gave a half-smirk and replied, "Fifty-seven men, you say?" Rocky nodded once, the man clapping in mock approval as he continued, "My, my, that _is_ impressive. Sadly, though, it is your simple misfortune that I am no man. No, no, Mr. DeSantos, I am so much more than that."

At that moment the man's hands started to glow red, and before Rocky had time to realize what had happened he was being thrown backwards through the air, blasted off his feet as a result of the energy shot at him from those glowing hands. He landed hard on his back some fifty feet away, and the pain that surged through him instantly took him back to the injury he had sustained that had forced him to retire as a Power Ranger. He breathed an internal sigh of relief a few moments later as he pushed himself back onto his feet, something he had not been able to do the last time.

"That was only a taste of my power, Mr. DeSantos!" the man yelled, standing exactly where he had been prior to attacking Rocky. Extending his arms at his sides, he let out a maniacal laugh that lasted far too long for Rocky, sending chills up and down his spine. When finally the laughter ceased, the man sneered at Rocky and added, "Now meet my Dark Soldiers. You all play nice and I'll be back to check on you once they have finished ripping you to shreds."

In a flash of bright red light the man was gone, then there was another flash just moments later that left a dozen black-and-grey foot soldiers standing in his wake. The Dark Soldiers, as they had now been named, did not hesitate to pursue Rocky, rushing towards him the moment that they had appeared.

Staring at them intently, lowering himself into a fighting stance, Rocky rolled his eyes and muttered, "Great, just what I need, a bunch of wannabe reject Putties that got dressed in the dark this morning."

As he quickly learned, however, these Dark Soldiers were definitely not rejected Putty Patrollers. He had barely been able to throw a single kick before being tossed aside, thrown against the side of a brick building without remorse. Rocky let out a pain-filled howl as he slid down the wall, slumping to the ground until his butt met the cement sidewalk. Then he was suddenly jerked back onto his feet, opening his eyes just in time to see a black fist flying straight at his face.

But the punch never connected, as what happened next was without a doubt one of the strangest things Rocky had ever experienced, and as a Power Ranger he had certainly experienced his fair share of strange things. There was a powerful, tremendous, primal roar that seemed to emanate from his chest, though how that was possible was beyond him, followed by a vibrant burst of red energy that flashed in every direction, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut as the Dark Soldiers were sent flying away from him in an instant.

When moments later he reopened his eyes, he looked down at himself in shock to find that his whole body was now cloaked in red, the golden medallion emblazoned with the ape resting squarely on his chest. Behind his mask, the faintest hint of a smile crossed his lips as he looked towards the staggering foot soldiers and tauntingly said, "Oh, now we're _really_ going to have some fun."

Allowing the Power to take control, Rocky made a jab step to his left and became nothing more than a blur of red energy, rushing up, down, and side-to-side across the street. Stopping exactly where he had started a few moments earlier, he: dusted his hands off, looked around at the obviously dizzied foot soldiers, and laughingly said, "Alright guys, right about now is when you're all supposed to fall down, okay?"

As if on cue, one of the Dark Soldiers gave a profoundly drunken stagger and then tumbled over, crashing to the ground as one by one its comrades all did the same. Similarly to defeated Putty Patrollers, the Dark Soldiers became enveloped in white light that flashed briefly before their bodies disappeared completely, leaving Rocky smiling victoriously, a smile that quickly faded as he turned around to face his car.

The crashed SUV was now surrounded on all sides by a horde of people, most of them civilians, but it seemed as if the Stone Canyon Police had been alerted to the accidents as well, because there were two patrol cars and four officers all staring right at the Red Ninja Ranger in utter disbelief. Acting quickly, Rocky held up his hands, started towards the group, and when he was close enough, addressed them.

"Okay, folks, there's nothing left to see here. The Power Rangers have everything under control," he spoke, waving the civilians off as he turned towards the policemen and added, "Thank you for your concern, officers. The man who owns this vehicle was attacked to get to the Rangers, and has been taken to our base to undergo some tests, just to make sure he's okay and everything. I'll be taking his car back to him if you don't mind."

Too dumbfounded to speak, one of the officers shook his head and managed a meek "No."

Rocky smiled and nodded, murmuring his thanks as he moved passed the police officers and into the driver's seat of his Explorer, wanting to get out of there before everything had a chance to click with the cops. "Dammit, that dent is going to be a bitch to get out," he muttered to himself as he started up his car, driving away in full ninja attire.

Checking the clock on his CD player as he drove, Rocky mused with a grin that he still had a little longer than an hour before he had to be back at work, plenty of time to sweep Aisha off her feet. Then he realized he would have to tell her about what happened, which would inevitably lead to a very long conversation, the thought of which made the smile disappear from his face almost instantly.

Shaking his head as he turned into their neighborhood, he let out a quiet chuckle and said, "It's gonna be a long day."

If he only knew how right he was.

--

Earlier that morning, but long after Rocky had left for work, Aisha found herself taking full advantage of the perks that came with being on paid vacation. She had slept in until nearly eight o'clock, was still in her pajamas, and had barely moved from her position on the couch since waking an hour earlier. Her laptop was resting on her stomach as she alternated back and forth between cheesy soap operas on television and the three-way instant message conversation she was having with Kimberly and Katherine, both of whom were stuck at work, a fact that she was hard pressed to let them forget.

Her two friends, who did not have the fortune of being on vacation, would pop in and out every so often, giving her time to catch up on Days of Our Lives in between discussing their love lives—or lack thereof in Kimberly's case—and begging Kimberly for all the details about what she was doing with Tommy in Reefside. Kimberly had refused to give a straight answer, leading Aisha to the obvious conclusion that there was more to it than just the casual visit Kimberly had insinuated it was.

They had all seen the news reports, practically every station in the country broadcasting the return of the Pink Ninja Ranger, in a city where no active Power Ranger had ever stepped foot in. Kimberly had at least admitted that it had indeed been her, mostly because there was no real way to deny it, but she steadfastly refused to say why she had so suddenly up and left for the other side of the country. Come hell or high water, by the end of the day Aisha was going to find a way to pry that information out of her best friend.

"But how?" Aisha mused aloud, ignoring the beeping of her laptop that signaled she had a new message, her eyes focused intently on the passionate kiss being shared onscreen between the supposedly gay pool boy and the middle-aged woman whom he worked for. "Yeah, Rico, get you some of that!"

The show went to commercial mid-kiss, leaving Aisha vastly disappointed and dissatisfied as she returned her attention to the computer. It was a message from Kimberly, perhaps the twentieth in a line of similar messages, all of them denials to Aisha's multitude of requests for just a hint of juicy information. Rolling her eyes at Kimberly's latest message, Aisha started to type out a reply, but stopped after three letters when the doorbell rang.

"I'm so not answering that," she muttered to herself, returning to her computer only to be halted a second time by the ringing bell. A few silent seconds passed and then it rang again, and again, and again, until finally Aisha threw her arms up in disgust and got up from the couch. Approaching the door, she looked through the peephole, determined not to answer the caller unless it was someone she knew.

It was definitely someone she knew.

Her eyes went wide in shock at what she saw, a fully robed Red Ninja Ranger on her front porch still pressing the doorbell repeatedly. Yanking the door open, she stared at the Red Ranger in disbelief and hesitantly asked, "Who are you?"

Not bothering to answer, the Red Ranger pushed his way past Aisha and into the house, kicking the door closed behind himself as soon as he was safely inside. Then he turned to face Aisha, crossed his arms in front of his face, and swung them down to the sides of his body as he said, "Power down!"

"R-Rocky? H-how? W-why? What happened?" Aisha demanded, rushing to her husband's side, her only thoughts being on his personal safety.

Holding up his hands, Rocky made a downward motion to calm her down and murmured, "Relax, 'Sha, I'm alright. I didn't mean to scare you. I would have used my keys, but I locked them in the car in my rush to get inside."

"You mean you drove home like that?" said Aisha, her mouth agape as Rocky nodded. "Boy, what the hell were you thinking?" she questioned, resisting the urge to slap the back of his head. "Didn't you think that it would look a little suspicious, the Red Ranger just driving a car out in the open like that? Not to mention the fact that you were driving a car with license plates that are registered to _you._"

Blushing visibly, Rocky rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as he replied, "Honestly, powering down was the last thing on my mind. There were cops and civilians everywhere, and the only thing I was thinking about was getting out of there as soon as possible. I was just so relieved to get out of there without being questioned that I didn't even consider any of that other stuff you mentioned."

Sighing, Aisha nodded her understanding, her apparent frustration shifting to concern once more. Wrapping her arm around Rocky's, leading them towards the living room couch, she said, "Tell me what happened."

Collapsing onto the couch, Rocky waited until Aisha had sat down next to him, threw his arm around her shoulder, and then proceeded to tell her everything. Aisha's eyes got progressively further as he delved deeper and deeper into his story, starting with nearly striking a pedestrian in his Explorer and ending with lying to the police in his haste to make an escape. By the end of his explanation, Aisha was staring at him with a blank expression on her face, clearly unable to process everything that she had just been told.

"You're saying this guy knew who he were?" she muttered.

Rocky nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "I don't know how he knows or who he is, but I think it's time we made a few phone calls. Between this and Kim, something strange is going on, and if anyone's going to know what that is it'll be Tommy. He still hasn't let me live down missing the Red Ranger mission last year."

Aisha chuckled. "One day, when he gets married, he'll understand that being on a cruise ship in the middle of Mexico on your honeymoon is a lot more appealing then going to the moon to blow up Serpentera and the Machine Empire."

"It's not that and you know it," said Rocky, with a laugh. "I would have killed to go on that mission, especially after we all made the pact to never talk about things again, but I didn't have a way to get home in time. No offense, sweetie, because you know I love you to death, but under normal circumstances saving the world takes precedent over a cruise."

"Aww, and here I was thinking I was all special and stuff," Aisha teased, lightly needling Rocky's ribs. Rocky responded in due fashion, the two of them going back and forth for quite some time, their paces increasing until both were left howling with laughter and gasping for breath. It took awhile for Aisha to regain her composure, and when she did she looked at her husband very seriously as she added, "I think we just threw the pact right out the window there, didn't we?"

Rocky just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "If you ask me, the pact went out the window when Kimberly did a fully morphed back flip seven stories in the air," he replied, chuckling as he recalled the many times he had seen that very footage over the past two days. "You think I should call Tommy and let him know what happened?"

"It can't hurt," Aisha answered, cuddling up close to Rocky's side. "Try and find out what Kim's doing in Reefside too, if you can. It can only be one of two things, and either way I want to know."

Looking down at her, Rocky furrowed his brow and said, "Kim's in Reefside with Tommy?"

Rolling her eyes, Aisha nodded and replied, "I told you that yesterday, babe, remember? We were watching _24_ and I said Kim was staying at Tommy's house for a little while."

"'Sha, you know you can't talk to me when _24_ is on," said Rocky, sharing a knowing laugh with his wife. "Alright," he continued, pushing himself onto his feet. "I'm gonna call Tommy and see if we can't get to the bottom of this."

"Don't forget to ask about Kim!" Aisha called out as he walked away, Rocky holding up his hand to signal that he had heard her.

Disappearing into the kitchen, Rocky searched through the refrigerator as he dialed Tommy's number. Listening to the phone ring, he pulled out a box of leftover Chinese food from the night before and retrieved a fork from one of the drawers before hopping onto the countertop and digging in. After the third ring, the line clicked.

"Hello?" said Tommy.

"Oh, cwap," Rocky replied through a mouthful of chow mein. "I didn't fink you woo ansa."

Tommy laughed and said, "Why doesn't it surprise me that you're eating?"

Swallowing the noodles, Rocky chuckled and sarcastically replied, "You're just jealous I can eat whatever I want, not workout, and still not gain a pound; and speaking of surprises, shouldn't you be working right now? I was just gonna leave a message on your voicemail."

"I'm on my prep period," said Tommy. "What's up?"

"Some crazy stuff happened man, real crazy stuff."

"Crazy like how?" asked Tommy, the curiosity evident in his voice.

"Like red robes appearing out of nowhere crazy," Rocky answered, shaking his head, still wondering how that had happened when he had not even summoned them. "Like super-strong Putties and a dude that shoots energy from his hands crazy."

The line went silent for a few moments before Tommy finally said, "The same thing happened to Kim. I have a feeling I know what's going on, but it's not something I want to talk about over the phone if you catch my drift. I'm going to call Billy and Adam later and see if anything weird has happened to either one of them. I think we all need to get together this weekend and talk about what's happening."

"Any particular location in mind?" asked Rocky, poking his fork repeatedly at the same small piece of chicken.

"Yeah," said Tommy. "The outskirts."

Immediately Rocky understood the location Tommy was referring to, the outskirts of Angel Grove, the place where the Command Center and Power Chamber had been housed. "Yeah, just let me know when and we'll be there," said Rocky. "We definitely need to ta—"

Rocky's sentence, however, was cut off by the sound of a very large explosion emanating from outside his home. Forgetting his conversation with Tommy entirely, Rocky dropped his phone on the counter and sprung to his feet, taking off on a dead sprint towards the front door, completely oblivious to the fact that Aisha was no longer in the living room. Bursting onto the porch, he skidded to a stop and immediately raised his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding yellow light coming from behind his SUV parked at the curb. The vehicle was engulfed in flames, and as everything started to click in his head his thoughts instantly went to Aisha.

"Aisha!" he yelled, looking around in every direction as he jogged across the lawn towards his car. He could see no one, no hint of what had caused the explosion, but as he ran around to the driver's side he did see Aisha, lying face down and unconscious on the asphalt. "Aisha!" he yelled again, rushing to her side. He did not even bother to check if she was alive or not, knowing that he needed to get them away from the car as quickly as possible. Hoisting her over his shoulder with ease, he ran to the lawn and carefully laid her down, hastily checking for a pulse in her neck. "Baby, come on," he murmured, reaching into the vaults of his mind for the CPR training he had undergone in the Army.

He went back and forth from her mouth to her chest, praying to God with each passing moment that she came around. Then, when he felt like there was no hope at all, he heard the most glorious sound his ears had ever been treated to; a cough. Moments later there was another, and another, and another, until Rocky was certain she was going to hack up a lung.

"Aisha, are you okay?" he asked, gingerly helping her into a sitting position as she slowly opened her eyes.

"I'm fine," she coughed, shaking her head. "I don't know what happened though. I just came out with the spare to get your keys out of the car, and as soon as I opened the door the thing just blew up! It was so weird," she breathed, closing her eyes briefly. "I heard this growl and time kind of slowed down. Then I felt something tackle me to the ground, and when I looked up it was a glowing yellow bear. It shielded me from the explosion, Rocky. It-it saved my life."

Rocky sighed. "I'm just glad you're alright," he murmured, gently stroking the small of her back up and down. "I get the feeling this has something to do with what happened to me earlier. First Kim, then me, and now this…someone has it out for us. And somehow, someway, our Ninja powers have a part in all of it."

Shifting in his arms to face her husband, Aisha looked at him with fear in her eyes as she whispered, "Why us, Rocky? Why now, after all this time has passed?"

Shaking his head, Rocky replied, "I honestly don't know, sweetheart. Tommy seems to think he has an idea of what's going on though. He wants us all to meet him sometime this weekend at the outskirts."

"Why the outskirts?" Aisha questioned, gingerly pushing herself onto her feet with some assistance from Rocky.

Rocky shrugged. "Probably because he thinks no one will be able to hear us there. He was pretty hesitant to talk about anything in detail when I called him. I got the impression that he thinks we're all being monitored somehow. Whatever is going on, it's got to be pretty damn serious for Tommy to be that paranoid. He never freaks out about anything."

"When it involves Kim's safety, he always freaks out," Aisha replied, sharing a knowing grin with Rocky. "I guarantee you that boy went ape shit when she got attacked and somehow convinced her that she was safer with him in Reefside. Granted, she probably is, but that's beside the point."

"And what exactly is the point?" asked Rocky, rolling his eyes when the sound of approaching sirens reached his ears.

"That neither one of them ever really got over each other," said Aisha, incredulous to the notion that Rocky had not already picked up on what she deemed to be a blatantly obvious fact. "Sounds like someone called the cops," she added, upon recognizing the sirens as well.

"Three cop cars are coming from that direction," said Rocky, pointing to his left. Then, turning to his right, he pointed again and added, "Two ambulances coming that way."

For a few silent moments, Aisha was left staring at her husband with her mouth hanging open. "You can tell how many are coming?" she finally questioned, somewhere in between shocked and impressed.

Rocky chuckled softly and nodded. "When you spend as much time around sirens as I did, you learn real quick which ones are which. I could pick out a French cop car in the middle of Afghanistan if I had to." They shared a brief laugh at that, and as he looked to his right once more he rolled his eyes exaggeratedly at the pair of ambulances that had just turned onto his street. "Yeah," he muttered, shaking his head slowly. "I definitely don't think I'm going to be going back to work today."

--


	4. Bruised

_**Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter 3 - Bruised**_

_**Original Posting Date: April , 2009**_

--

Asleep and dreaming peacefully, Adam Park rolled over in bed with a smile on his face and reached out for something that was not there. His arm fell loosely onto the mattress, causing his eyes to flutter open slightly as he drifted from dreamland back into reality; a reality that quite frankly sucked if you were to ask Adam. Tanya was gone, off singing her heart out to thousands of screaming fans every night for most of the next four months, leaving Adam feeling alone not just physically, but emotionally as well.

He hated her job more than anything, but loved the woman she was just the same. Their road back to each other had been odd, to say the least, coming at a time where Adam had reached a crossroads in his life, not knowing which direction to take. A small smile crossed his lips once more as he remembered that day like it had just been yesterday.

It was a little over three years back, on a Sunday afternoon in late August. Adam was walking in front of Bunche Hall on the University of California Los Angeles campus, his head hanging low and his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his denim shorts. He wore a black tee shirt and dark sunglasses, a black baseball cap pulled down over his eyes, hiding what little remained from the curly shoulder-length locks he had just chopped off a few days prior.

His mind was wandering as it had been doing quite frequently for some time now, wondering what he was going to do with his life. He was only twenty-one, but could not help that nagging in the back of his head, telling him he needed to figure things out sooner rather than later. So distracted in his thoughts, he did not notice the two people passing alongside him, chatting away while oblivious to his very existence. The two equally distracted parties collided with each other, causing Adam to trip and fall, his butt landing hard on the sidewalk.

For a brief moment he was angry, but then he saw who it was and felt every ounce of irritation evaporate in an instant. The same could be said for the person he had run into, who looked poised to strike with a vengeance only to break out in a bright smile when she set her sights on Adam. They locked eyes in silence, remaining that way for nearly a full minute before both burst out into laughter, shaking their heads as they got back onto their feet.

"Oh man, my bad, Tanya," said Adam, as he approached her, ignoring the bald, African-American man standing a few feet away with a physique so muscular that Adam reasoned he must have lifted weights in his sleep. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tanya replied, still laughing as she gave his shoulder a friendly pat. "What are you doing here? Do you go to school here?"

Turning to face Bunche Hall, Adam eyed the building for a few moments, returned his eyes to Tanya, and shook his head wistfully. "No, not anymore at least," he answered, unable to mask his disappointment. "What about you? God, it's been so long, I don't even know what you've been up to."

Tanya smiled. "Yeah, it has been awhile, hasn't it?" Adam just nodded his agreement as she added, "It's a long story, but I just signed my first record deal a few months ago, and I'm doing some promotional tours at different college campuses all over California. Tonight it's UCLA."

"You signed a record deal? Wow, Tanya, that's awesome!" said Adam, genuinely happy for his old friend and teammate. "Maybe I'll come check you out tonight. Where and what time are you playing?"

"Yeah, you should definitely come by," Tanya answered, her smile even brighter now. "I go on at seven-thirty in Schoenberg Hall. If only I knew where the hell Schoenberg Hall is," she laughed. "My manager's running late so I asked my cousin Tony to show me around."

Though he kept it inside, Adam breathed a deep sigh of relief upon hearing that. His first thought upon seeing the hulking behemoth was that he was Tanya's boyfriend, and the mere idea of her with someone else after he had let her go was enough to make his stomach wrench.

"I can show you where it is," Adam offered, trying not to sound too eager, but failing miserably.

"Oh, would you?" said Tanya, touching Adam's forearm. "That would be so great! We've been walking around for damn near an hour and still haven't been able to find the place!"

Feeling a million times better already, Adam nodded and said, "Yeah, sure, no problem."

Grinning widely, Tanya turned to her cousin and said, "T, do you mind if I go with Adam for a bit? We went to high school together back in Angel Grove and it's been forever since we've seen each other."

Tony seemed to size Adam up, narrowing his eyes at the former Power Ranger; then he turned to Tanya and asked a very simple question, that came out more like a grunt than coherent speech. "He good peoples?"

"The best," Tanya answered, shooting a discreet wink Adam's way that left him smiling from ear to ear.

After a few moments, Tony seemed to relent, as with a nod he said, "Yeah, alright." Then he turned to Adam and added, "You best take care of her. Don't be tryin' none of that smooth suburban shit on my cousin."

Stifling the urge to laugh while simultaneously fighting off his smile, Adam held up his hands in defense and said, "Hey, you don't have to worry about me, man. I don't know anything about that smooth suburban shit."

Watching while Tanya bade farewell to her cousin, Adam felt his spirits suddenly start to soar. Running into her, of all people, had been the last thing he had expected when the day had begun, and that in itself had been enough of a pleasant surprise, but now that he was actually going to be spending real time with her it was like he had gone from rock bottom straight to the top of the world.

Once Tony had turned to walk away, Tanya approached Adam's side and they followed suit in the opposite direction. For awhile they just walked, neither speaking because neither really knew what to say. They had not seen each other since the end of summer after they had graduated high school, Tanya accepting a scholarship to Juilliard in New York City while Adam stayed behind to pursue his budding career as a stuntman. Three years later, he was certain she would have remained in Angel Grove had he given her a reason to, but instead he kept his feelings to himself and watched her leave without even putting up a fight, and was still kicking himself in the ass for it.

They had walked in silence for nearly five minutes when finally Tanya turned to Adam and said, "So what have you been up to since I left? Stunt-doubling for the Tom Cruise's of the acting world, I assume?"

Adam chuckled and shook his head. "I wish. I haven't worked with anyone that big yet. The real truth about working in Hollywood is that it's not what you know, but who you know. That's kind of why I came here today. Being a stunt guy's just not what I thought it would be, so I've really been thinking a lot recently about going back to school. I spent two years getting my A.A. at Angel Grove Community, but an A.A. will only get you so far, you know?" Tanya nodded as Adam continued, "I figure if I go back full-time I can have my business degree in two, maybe two and a half years, so I think that's what I'm going to do."

"Business, huh? That's impressive," Tanya commented with a smile. "What do you want to do once you get your degree?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Adam gave a half-sigh and replied, "I'm not really sure, to be honest. When we were kids Rocky and I always used to talk about how we were going to open a dojo together when we grew up, but he's off in the Army now so it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I dunno, maybe I'll open my own dojo by myself."

"Well, I think you should," said Tanya, firmly. "You were always great with the kids in the Youth Center. Take that and add in a business degree and you've got everything you need to run your own school."

Adam grinned the grin that Tanya loved seeing so very much, his eyes squinting ever so slightly, as though he was embarrassed to be smiling. "Yeah, I guess so," he murmured, nodding his agreement. The silence came back once more as they progressed closer to the Schoenberg Hall, but this time Adam did not allow it to linger. "What about you?" he continued. "I mean, obviously you're about to become a huge singer, but what were you doing before that?"

Tanya laughed. "I don't know about becoming a huge singer," she replied, shaking her head. "It's not like I signed with Interscope or Def Jam or anything like that. It's a small, independent label, so I'm kind of just taking baby steps right now, but hopefully it will lead to something more down the line. As far as what I was doing before this: I graduated from Juilliard last year and was the afternoon DJ at a hip-hop and R&B station in New York up until a few months ago. The owner of the label I signed with found me at a bar singing karaoke with a couple of my girlfriends one night and that was that."

"Must have been some damn good karaoke," said Adam, he and Tanya sharing another laugh as they approached a building with a banner hanging from the room that proclaimed it as the UCLA Theatre For Performing Arts. Pointing, nodding his head towards the building, he turned to Tanya and added, "That's it right there."

"Awesome," said Tanya, feeling a twinge of disappointment as she realized this meant Adam would be leaving soon. No sooner had the words escaped her lips than a man came rushing out of the building, heading straight towards them in a suit and tie. "That's my manager," she added, Adam nodding.

"I'll let you go then," Adam muttered, experiencing a similar feeling to Tanya's.

"Yeah," Tanya murmured, nodding. "Listen, it was good seeing you. If you're not busy tonight maybe we can get together after my show and catch up a bit more."

It took Adam's mind a few seconds of processing before he was finally able to stammer, "Uh, y-yeah, sure, definitely. I'll give you my number and just call me whenever you're free."

Tanya took down Adam's phone number with a smile, and after a quick hug goodbye she was gone, meeting her manager halfway as they started back towards the theatre. Stuffing his hands back into his pockets, Adam began backpedaling with a wide grin on his face, quickly turning his pace from a slow walk into a rapid backwards skip.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist as he turned back around. Then, without warning, he started a dead sprint down the cement path, throwing himself into a cartwheel, followed by three back handsprings, finishing with a back tuck so graceful even the Russian judges would have awarded it full marks. Mid-flip, he could not help but to let out a high-pitched, Homer Simpson-esque, "Woo-hoo!"

Unfortunately, his flip also sent him barreling into a trio of attractive—and now shrieking—female students, taking them down hard to the ground right along with him. "Sorry," Adam muttered, struggling to his feet as he offered the ladies a helping hand up.

Not surprisingly though, they ignored his offer in lieu of three dirty looks, walking away while muttering a multitude of curse word laden jabs at Adam. Still, even in a moment as embarrassing as that, it had not been enough to tear him down from his emotional high. He arrived back at his apartment shortly thereafter, and five hours later he and Tanya were joking and laughing over coffee and cherry pie at an all-night diner in the city.

To say that things had instantly turned romantic, however, would be a vast understatement. Tanya still had a tour to complete and an album to record, and Adam was still struggling with his own personal life. But by the time she had returned home three months later, they were both ready to see if there was still something there, and life for Adam had only gotten better since.

Throwing the sheets away from his body, Adam climbed out of bed and started a slow walk towards the oak dresser on the other side of the room, naked aside from the Green Zeo Ranger boxer shorts Tanya had bought him as a gag gift for his birthday last year. He squatted down, opened the bottom drawer, and pushed away some socks, retrieving a small felt box that he flipped open effortlessly with his thumb. Inside was, of course, a ring; a ring that had taken hours of help from Aisha for him to decide on.

"As soon as you come home, baby," he murmured, closing the box and returning it to the dresser drawer.

A blessing or a curse, the jury was still out for Adam when it came to running his own dojo. He had been doing it for just over a year now, and loved parts of it just as much as he hated others. Obviously being his own boss had its perks, and working with kids was something he had always enjoyed, but the hours were definitely not what most would call ideal. His first class did not start until three o'clock, and as he had only been able to afford one other instructor, who was part-time at that, the vast majority of the classes fell on his shoulders, which also meant he did not get home until ten or eleven most nights.

With Tanya away it was not a problem, but once she returned he did not know how it was going to work out. When he had started the Black Ninja Academy Tanya had been so busy recording her album and promoting it—as well as her current tour—that they had not really had time to notice a difference.

"Hopefully we start making some money soon so I can actually hire a decent sized staff," Adam mused aloud as he started for the bathroom.

The hours seemed to drag on from there, Adam pitter-pattering around the house alone, trying to find things to occupy his time until he had to leave for the dojo. Video games, movies, crappy daytime television; there were only so many things one could do when the rest of the world was out working, and inevitably they all started to become rather boring.

By the time one-thirty rolled around he had so much pent up energy that he was more than ready to take some of it out as only his chosen sport could help him do. His school lied right on the Angel Grove side of the border between it and Stone Canyon, so the drive was a little bit longer than he would have liked, but he hoped it would be worth it in the end. One of the things he had learned in business school was to make your business accessible to as many people as possible, and by placing his dojo smack dab in the middle of the two neighboring towns he was hoping he would eventually start drawing kids from both sides of the border. Slowly but surely, he was already starting to see progress.

When he had first opened the school he had been struggling for business, but word of mouth had garnered him a rapid increase in clientele, so much so that he barely stopped moving between his first and last classes. Unfortunately, the influx in business had yet to be enough to pull him from the debt he was currently in with startup loans and things of that nature, but if everything stayed the way it was he would be in the black by November, just in time to start paying for a wedding.

"Knock on wood," Adam murmured, doing just that to the desk in his small office as he tossed his black duffel bag onto his chair. He pulled out his black gi pants and a matching tank top from the bag, proceeding to change from his street clothes before making his way back to the main area of the dojo.

He moved through some stretches and a light kata to get ready for his three o'clock class, a group that consisted of kids both male and female, most of them in their early teens. It was easily his favorite class of the day, mostly because they reminded him so much of himself and the way he had been at their age.

As it grew closer to three o'clock the kids started arriving one by one, some with their parents who, as always, lingered to watch their children in action. He had disappeared back into his office at this point, waiting until two minutes to three before making his way out to where his class was, most of them hanging around near or on the karate mats. Some stood and some sat, most of them engaged in some form of conversation with one another, but as soon as they saw Sensei Adam they all made haste to spring to attention.

"Okay, guys, you know the drill. Stretch lines," said Adam, watching as they fell into their familiar positions with a unified cry of "Yes, Sensei!"

It took maybe two minutes of stretching for Adam to see the problem child rear its ugly head. It seemed like there was one in every group, from the youngest of children to the handful of thirty-plus adults he taught. This one, a blonde haired, blue eyed, thirteen year-old kid named Charlie was one of the worst in all of Adam's classes. On the first night of class three weeks ago Charlie had chosen his target, a much smaller boy called Eric who was far too timid to defend himself when it came to Charlie's bullying.

Adam had given the boys their space to see if they could work things out on their own, but it had now become apparent that he was going to have to intervene. When the class started doing squats, Charlie discreetly attempted to sweep Eric's legs out from under him. Eric fell to the mat with a thud, Charlie laughing and pretending like he had had nothing to do with the embarrassed boy's fall, completely unaware that Adam had seen the whole thing.

"Alright, class, that's enough stretching!" said Adam.

The class all returned to standing positions, some of them looking around at one another with confused expressions on their faces. One student, a young brunette named Alexandra, turned to Adam and said, "But Sensei, we haven't finished everything yet."

"I know, Alex," Adam replied, giving the young girl a calming smile. "We're going to do things a little bit differently today. We're going to have a little lesson in respect; respect for yourself as well respect for each other." He said this while walking up and down their ranks with his arms folded behind his back, falling to Charlie's side and placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Charlie, you seem like you're ready to show us all what you're made of today. What do you say you and I spar a little bit? You know, give the rest of the class a show."

Though he posed it as a question, the grip he had on Charlie's shoulder left the boy knowing he could not say no. Instead he just nodded timidly, allowing Adam to lead him towards the center of the mats while Eric watched with a beaming grin. Once they had reached their destination, Adam turned to the class and addressed them once more.

"Okay, the rest of you spread out to the outside of the mats," he instructed. Then, returning his eyes to Charlie, he took a few steps back and lowered himself into a bow, craning his neck to say, "You ready?"

Timid though he initially may have seemed, Charlie was also the type who could not stand to appear weak in front of his peers, even at the expense of others. Tightening his orange belt, he nodded to Adam and bowed with the faintest hint of a sneer, uncaring to the fact that Adam was obviously a vastly superior martial artist.

"Go!" exclaimed Adam, springing forward with a knee that would have snapped Charlie's head back had the boy not been able to sidestep the attack; that and the fact that Adam had no real intention of hurting his student, merely teaching him the lesson he so desperately deserved.

From there Charlie was forced to backpedal rapidly, simultaneously attempting to deflect the multitude of strikes Adam was half-heatedly sending his way. It was clear from the beginning that Charlie was no match for his sensei, and it did not take long before many of his classmates were laughing and snickering at his expense, never more so than when Adam took him down to the mats with an effortless leg sweep.

Hearing their laughter only made Charlie angrier. From his position on the floor, he glared daggers at Adam's back, pushing himself onto his feet and letting go a powerful battle cry as he charged his sensei from behind. Before Charlie even had time to realize what had happened Adam had spun around, throwing a snapping side kick that stopped just inches from the boy's neck. Adam held his foot there for a short while, watching Charlie's expression grow progressively more fearful; then, with a sly wink, he slowly and exaggeratedly swung his leg around and back down.

"Never attack an opponent when he's not looking. There's no honor in that," said Adam, motioning for Charlie to rejoin his classmates. Charlie did so, looking as red as a tomato, sitting as far away from them as possible while Adam turned to the rest of the class and added, "Okay, finish your stretches and then split into your usual partners for some sparring. I'll be walking around to check on all of you."

The rest of the class went smoothly, and a few parents had even stayed behind to thank Adam for what he had done, particularly Eric's mother who must have thanked him at least a dozen different times. For the next few hours classes came and went, all of them without incident; that is, until seven-fifteen rolled around.

Adam was in the midst of showing his brown belt class the proper way to execute a Butterfly Twist when the front door was practically thrown open, followed by the entrance of a muscle-bound man who looked something like Hulk Hogan circa 1985. Right behind him, looking ever so proud of himself, was Charlie.

"Ochitsuite," Adam said to his class in Japanese, their postures relaxing as Charlie's father stormed towards Adam.

"You wanna tell me what the hell you were thinking going after my boy like that?" the forty-something man demanded, his fists balled at his sides.

Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Adam quietly replied, "Your son needed to be taught that being the strongest person in a group isn't always an advantage."

The older man laughed sarcastically and said, "Oh, that's mighty big coming from a grown man to a teenage kid!"

"Sir," Adam responded calmly, not the least bit afraid of the imposing figure standing before him, "if you'd like, I can show _you _that being the strongest person in a group isn't always an advantage as well."

As if on cue, Charlie's father cocked his arm back and attempted to throw his most power packed punch at Adam's head. Squatting slightly, preparing to duck the attack, Adam saw something from the corner of his eye and immediately threw himself into a graceful back flip, kicking the man in the chest on his way. The kick had not been designed to hurt the man, but to save his life.

Everything seemed to slow down as Adam heard the sound of glass shattering, his eyes settling mid-flip on the very large projectile that had just been thrown into his dojo. Screams of fright followed next moment, his students running panicked in every direction. Upon landing, it took less than a second for Adam to realize what the object was, having dealt with his fair share of them in his time as a Turbo Ranger; only Divatox's explosives had never looked quite as big or as powerful as the one lying just a few feet away from him did.

"Everyone out!" he yelled, the students and parents around him rushing towards the door. Caring little about all his possessions in his office, Adam made to follow his students, but stopped when he reached Charlie's father, slumped on the ground with the wind knocked out of him. Rolling his eyes, Adam lowered himself down and grunted, "Alright, c'mon," simultaneously scooping the older man into his arms.

From there he made a beeline to the door, barely making it outside before the explosive device was detonated, the impact throwing Adam forward and causing him to drop Mr. Greenberg, the former Black Ranger slamming hard into a nearby station wagon. Groaning in pain, Adam's thoughts quickly went to the safety of his students, and as he gingerly returned to his feet he looked around and breathed a sigh of relief; they were all alive and uninjured.

He had just opened his mouth to address them when he felt a cool, icy hand fall on his shoulder, followed by a sensation so cold and wet that it felt like he was being dragged through the depths of the Arctic Ocean. When he reappeared moments later, however, he was in a place far from cold or wet, in fact it was rather hot. Looking around in shock, he realized it was the inside of his karate studio now engulfed in flames.

"Oh my God," he muttered, wondering how in the world he was going to pay for everything.

Then came a maniacal laugh from somewhere behind him, followed by a deep voice saying, "Oh no, Black Ranger, I'm much more powerful than God."

"Who the hell are you?" Adam demanded, carefully eyeing the bald, trench coat and sunglass wearing man. "What do you want?"

"Ah, yes, two very simple questions with two very simple answers," the man replied. "I shall answer your second question first, and that is the destruction of you and all your little Ranger friends. Don't look so surprised, Mr. Park," the man continued, upon seeing the expression on Adam's face. "I know much about you. Father: Dae-Jung, mother: Eun Sun, both immigrants to this country. Your girlfriend, Tanya Sloan, whom you hope to one day marry, was also a Power Ranger. Tommy Oliver, Kimberly Hart, Rocky DeSantos, Aisha Campbell, Billy Cranston; they were your teammates as well."

"Who are you?" said Adam once more, this time through gritted teeth as he clenched his fists at his sides. "Tell me your name!"

"My name?" the man replied, shaking his head. "My boy, certainly you know my name. It's one you have heard before, not too long ago either, in fact. I am your worst nightmare, Mr. Park. The time has come for you to face your demise, and you will have Jared Grant to thank for it."

Adam's eyes went wide at that as he tried to process what he had just heard, leaving him vulnerable to the energy attack Jared had just thrown at his chest. Flying through the air, Adam did not see the flash of red light that filled the room moments later, nor the disappearance of the one called Jared Grant. He crashed hard into a wooden beam, snapping it in half as he fell to the floor, grimacing and groaning in pain, pulling shards of splintered and blood spattered wood out of his back.

Looking up at the ceiling, he heard a tremendous creak and knew that he had reached the end. The ceiling was about to collapse on top of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. He simply closed his eyes in meditative preparation for what was about to occur, accepting that his time had indeed come.

The funny thing was that it never did. He heard the ceiling collapse, opened his eyes in time to see it raining down on him, but the impact he was expecting never came. Moments later something slimy and wet slapped the side his face, remaining there as his body was jerked violently from underneath the falling ceiling. Next moment he was standing atop a twelve-story apartment building two miles away from his school, staring down at the bustling traffic of Angel Grove's business district. Looking at the cars as they whizzed by, his eyes grew wide once more, this time when they fell on an iridescent black frog hopping lazily over the many vehicles.

"No way," Adam murmured, rubbing the back of his neck in disbelief. "I gotta call Tommy."

Unfortunately, his cell phone was now likely a melted mess of plastic components and battery acid, just one of the many items he would have to replace thanks to this Jared Grant character. After dealing with the police upon returning to his school, it was damn near midnight when he finally got home. Every movement he made was a cautious one: opening the door, turning on the lights, checking the answering machine in the kitchen; they were all acts that were committed with great trepidation, Adam fearful that any single move he made could have been the one to result in his demise.

And it very well could have.

As long as Jared Grant was around, none of the Rangers were safe anymore.

--

Sitting at a desk in his darkened basement, his entire head hidden behind a heavy welding helmet, Billy Cranston made careful, intricately planned maneuvers with the large torch-gun he was currently holding. He had spent the better part of six months working on this project, a small metal box roughly five feet by five feet in size, and at long last he was nearly finished. Killing the flame shooting from the end of the gun, Billy lifted his mask and wiped the sweat and black grime away from his forehead onto the back of his sleeve.

"That should have done the trick," he murmured to himself, inspecting every side of the silver cube, running his gloved fingertips along its smooth, still warm surface. Half-smiling at his presumed victory, Billy retrieved what appeared to be a silver watch resting atop his work station and strapped it tightly to his left wrist. With a silent prayer, he brought his right hand to the side of the watch face and quietly added, "Let's hope it works this time."

There were three small knobs along each side of the watch face; in silence, Billy tapped a series of the knobs, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed the center knob in tightly on the right side. The rush of energy that overtook his body moments later was exactly what he had been hoping for, a blue column of crackling light enveloping him entirely before shooting up through his house and high into the sky above.

He could see the tops of every building in Boston as he flied through the air at breakneck speeds, unable to believe that he had actually managed to build a fully functional teleportation grid. The whole journey seemed to last hours, but it was really only a few seconds before he reached his destination, alone in a cemetery that was located more than four-thousand miles away from his Massachusetts home. Without intending to, his eyes fell upon the inscription of a nearby headstone, Billy reading the engraved words to himself.

_Trini Kwan_

_August 9, 1978 - January 16, 2003_

_Daughter to two, Friend to many, Protector to all_

Tears hit Billy's eyes midway through his reading as he struggled to grasp the notion that it had truly been more than a year since Trini had passed away. Deep down, it seemed like it had only been just yesterday when he, her family and friends, and the other Power Rangers had laid the young woman to rest here.

"Why?" he asked aloud, running his fingertips along the stone surface that marked her eternal resting place. "Why did you have to leave me, Trini?"

"I didn't want to, Billy," a quiet voice answered from behind him.

Billy immediately recognized the voice, and whirled around with a wide-eyed look of surprise to find Trini standing there; only, it was not the Trini he remembered. Garbed in a pale yellow robe with her raven colored hair hanging well past her waist, Trini's body cast an iridescent glow the faintest hint of yellow, reaffirming to Billy what he already knew.

"You're a ghost," said Billy, sounding more like a question than a statement.

Trini laughed. "I prefer spirit, but ghost works too I guess," she replied, shrugging her shoulders as she started a glide towards Billy, her toes just inches above the ground. For the longest time Billy just stared at her, trying desperately to process what he was seeing. Standing a few short feet away from him, Trini met his eyes and added, "Don't look so surprised, Billy. To those who possess the Power, all things are possible, remember?"

Swallowing hard, Billy nodded and managed to croak out, "I can't believe it's really you. I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again."

Smiling, Trini reached out and touched the side of Billy's face, Billy gasping when he felt her touch. Could ghosts…err, spirits, actually touch things?

"Yes, we can," Trini answered, seemingly reading his mind. "We've been watching you quite a bit this last year, Billy, and we both want you to know that it's time for you to move on. You can't spend the rest of your life grieving over me, my love. You have a life to live, a world that needs you; and grieving my death will only cause you even more pain than you've already dealt with. We…_I_ don't want that for you."

Blinking back tears, Billy asked, "When you say 'we,' you mean Zordon, right?"

"I knew you'd pick up on that one pretty quick," said Trini, smiling and winking at him. "I meant what I said, Billy. You can't spend the rest of your life thinking about me and what could have been. I can't bear to see you so sad all the time. How can you expect me to watch over you when all you ever do is work and mourn?"

Billy's eyes went big once more. "W-watch over me?" he stammered.

Trini nodded. "What else do you think I'd be doing? I've been trying to teach Zordon how to play volleyball, but he's not very good at it, so there's not really a whole lot to do."

"It's just you two then?" asked Billy.

Laughing, Trini shook her head and said, "Oh, no, there's quite a few of us, actually, all but Zordon are former Rangers, but they all have a tendency to be kind of cliquey. Like the Wild West Rangers; they just sit around at the juice saloon all day telling the same old stories about Calamity Kim and won't even bother to talk to anyone else except Zordon."

Billy chuckled slightly, rubbing the back of his neck as he said, "Wow, that's remarkable. So it's sort of akin to heaven for deceased Power Rangers?"

"Yeah, it's kind of like that," Trini replied, smiling at the amazed expression that Billy was wearing. "And one day we'll be there together, Billy, but for now you have to find a way to go on without me. Bad things are about to start happening; in fact, they already have, and the world is going to need you more than I do right now."

"What kind of bad things?" said Billy softly, as he reached out for Trini's hand, praying that he could touch her the same way she could touch him, leaving him pleasantly surprised when their fingers interlocked.

Trini started to answer him but stopped short, Billy staring at her wide-eyed expression with one of confusion. "Billy, look out!" she screamed, throwing him to the side without warning; the burst of red energy that had been intended for Billy was simply and harmlessly absorbed by her spirit form, her eyes settling on the blasts originator, a cloaked and bald man wearing a pair of black sunglasses standing some fifty feet away. "I don't know who you are, but you just made the biggest mistake of your life!" Trini told the man, sending his way an equally powerful eruption of yellow energy.

Jared Grant effortlessly deflected her attack with a wave of his hand, laughing cynically as he said, "Calm yourself, Yellow Ranger. I was merely attempting to do you a favor by permanently reuniting you with your lover."

"What does he mean, permanently?" asked Billy, from his position on the ground. "You're not staying?"

Looking down at him sadly, Trini shook her head and said, "I can't, Billy. My time on Earth is limited by the Morphing Grid and somehow this guy knows it. You need to get out of here now, before it's too late."

Billy started to protest, but before he could utter a single word he felt his body being enveloped by a dome of yellow energy, a shield to protect him from Jared Grant's follow up attack, this one a constant stream of red that made the shield crackle orange at its place of impact.

"Billy, you need to use your Power Coin and get out of here!" Trini commanded, visibly struggling. "He's too strong for me! I'm not going to be able to hold the shield much longer!"

"I'm not leaving you by yourself, Trini!" Billy argued, shaking his head. "I won't do it!"

Trini rolled her eyes, and impatiently fired back, "For crying out loud, Billy, I'm dead as a doornail! He can't do anything to me! I already told you how important you are to this planet, now get out of here or I'll get you out myself!"

Billy's eyes narrowed as he looked back at Trini, wanting so very much to argue despite knowing that it would do him no good. Sighing, his fingers drifted towards the pocket of his khaki pants, but stopped just inches away from the golden disc inside when he heard a familiar sound from off in the distance. It was a high-pitched howl, accompanied by what sounded like thundering footsteps rapidly growing nearer. His eyes turned towards the place where the sound was emanating from, focusing intently on a small speck of blue light that was approaching the trio rather quickly.

"Billy, your coin!" Trini reminded him, uncaring as to whatever else was going on.

"Right," Billy murmured, rising to his feet, retrieving his Power Coin. Holding it tightly in his grasp, he waved his arms like he had done so many times before and shouted, "Ninja Ranger Power, now!"

His eyes snapped shut instinctively as he felt a glimmer of what the Power had once been wash over him. When the transformation was complete and the blue robes covered his body, he turned to Trini only to get a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach when he realized that she was gone. How could she have left him at a time like this, when he still had so many questions he needed to ask her? Then a quiet voice in the back of his head reminded him.

"…_for now you have to find a way to go on without me. Bad things are about to start happening, in fact they already have, and the world is going to need you more than I do right now."_

With a newfound sense of strength, Billy turned to face Jared Grant just in time to see another pulse of red energy heading straight for his masked face. Billy executed a graceful flying cartwheel, his body flipping easily over the energy blast, and as soon as his booted feet had hit the ground once more he was running right at his assailant. Burst after burst of energy was sent his way as he ran, Billy using his years of gymnastics training to avoid them without exerting very much effort at all, although many a headstone was destroyed in the process.

His approach to Jared Grant became so rapid that, by the time Billy was within striking distance, there was little Jared could do except absorb the back flip double kick flying right at his chest. Jared was thrown back some twenty feet, crashing into a tombstone and shattering it into hundreds of pieces as a result.

"Come on!" Billy yelled to the fallen man, beating his fist against his chest as another howl diverted his attention once more. This time there was no mistaking its origin, as a glowing blue wolf had now become visible and was rushing towards the two opponents as quickly as it possibly could.

As the wolf grew nearer, Jared returned to his feet and proceeded to engage Billy in a fierce bout of hand-to-hand combat. Having not fought like this in many years, Billy was at a severe disadvantage, and as they battled back and forth it did not take long for Jared to best the Blue Ranger, tossing him like a rag doll into the hard trunk of a very large, nearby oak tree.

"You asked for it, Mr. Cranston," said Jared wickedly, standing over Billy's fallen and pain-inflicted body. As though pulling an invisible rope, Jared stopped his motions once his hands were at his side, grinning psychopathically as a small orb of red energy began growing larger and larger in his hands.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he was knocked aside by a flash of blue. Breathing a sigh of relief, Billy quickly scrambled to his feet and set his sights on the glowing blue wolf that had just saved him and was now slowly approaching the place where Jared lay, snarling loudly and baring its sharpened teeth at the man.

Billy watched on in shocked awe as the wolf sprung at Jared, wincing beneath his mask when Jared reared back and delivered a powerful kick to the animal's chest, causing it to cry out as it went flipping wildly through the air. By the time Jared had returned to his feet and prepared to deliver another attack towards Billy, however, the wolf had regained its composure and was running towards Jared once more.

"Perhaps I underestimated the power of your spirit animals," said Jared, smirking at Billy. "Until we meet again, Blue Ranger!"

Just as the wolf made to spring once more, Jared disappeared in a flash of red light. Upon landing and realizing that his prey was gone, the wolf turned to Billy and gave a quiet howl, nodding its head once before it too evaporated into nothingness. Looking around in disbelief, alone again, Billy: rolled his eyes, threw up his hands, and muttered, "Can't anyone stick around for more than five minutes?"

Sighing, he checked to make sure no one else was around before powering down, and moments later he had again become nothing more than a crackling column of blue light, rushing through the sky back to his three-story home on Mount Vernon Street in Boston. His mind was a cluttered mess upon returning to his basement, Billy pacing around and wondering what in the world he was supposed to do now.

Like the other Rangers, he too had seen Kimberly's Pink Ranger resurgence on the news, and knew that she was staying with Tommy in Reefside, but did that mean that their pact had now been broken? Deciding that there was only one way to find out, he ceased pacing and raised his communicator to his lips, pressing the button that would send the communication signal to the Ranger's former leader. He just hoped Tommy had not forgotten his communicator again.

Then came a slight crackling sound, followed by a deep voice saying, "This is Tommy."

"Tommy, it's Billy," he replied, looking around anxiously, as if expecting to be attacked at any given moment. "Look, whatever happened to Kimberly just happened to me as well. Somebody attacked me a few minutes ago; I don't know who he is, but I do know he was stronger than anything we've ever faced before."

"Yeah, it seems like it's been happening to everyone. I just got off the phone with Adam. I tried to call you too, but you didn't answer. Now I know why," said Tommy, his voice inflected with that leader tone he had used so much over the years. "Listen, there's a lot we need to talk about so everyone's meeting up at the outskirts this weekend. I know it's short notice, but do you think you can make it?"

Billy looked across the room, at the box on his desk, and smiled brightly to himself. "That shouldn't pose a problem now that I've perfected the teleportation grid I've been working on for the last six months."

"You did what?" Tommy blurted out.

"I built a fully functional teleportation grid," Billy answered, feeling quite proud of himself. "I must say, even though it's not an entirely original creation, it is one of my better inventions. I'm most impressed with it, actually. It's comparable to the one Zordon used in terms of strength, plus I added in a bit of Aquitian technology as well, so once I've programmed all of our communicator signals into it we should all be able to teleport again without concern."

"Damn, Billy, I mean, I knew you were a genius and all that, but…_damn!_" said Tommy, laughing out loud. "I don't know how you did it, and I probably wouldn't understand it if you explained it to me, but I'm damn glad you did. I get the feeling we're going to need all the help we can get now."

Billy's eyes narrowed in deep thought as something suddenly struck him. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Tommy remained silent for a few moments before sighing audibly and saying, "Yeah, it looks that way. I know it's the last thing any of us want to deal with at this stage in our lives, but I don't see how we have any other choice. This guy doesn't care about taking over the planet; he's targeted us specifically, and he won't stop until he succeeds or until we find a way to stop him first."

"I'm ready," said Billy, firmly and without hesitation, because he knew it was what Trini would have wanted.

"Good," Tommy replied, a hint of thankfulness in his voice. "Be at the outskirts at sunset on Saturday. We'll talk about everything then."

"Okay, Billy out," he murmured, ending the communication transmission with Tommy. Then his eyes settled on an object resting in the corner of his desk, causing a lump to form in his throat as he approached the framed picture and took it in his hands. It was of he and Trini, their arms around each other as they stood in front of the glowing Ferris wheel at the state fair, one of the few times they had been together after his return to Earth and before she had passed away. Staring down at her face, he rubbed his thumb across her cheek and murmured, "I'm fighting for you, Trini."

Returning the picture to its place, he slowly wheeled around in his chair and set his sights on the teleportation grid, a box so simple in nature one would have never been able to fathom the immense power that it was capable of. Deciding to test its capabilities further, he proceeded to start teleporting variously sized pieces of furniture from all three upper levels of his house down into the basement. In a matter of minutes he had two beds, a couch, all six dining room chairs, a recliner, a coffee table, and his flat screen television surrounding him entirely.

He was just about to start sending them all back upstairs when his communicator went off with its familiar six-tone chime, a sound that made him instantly smile. Raising the device to his lips, he pressed one of the buttons on the left side and said, "Billy here, go ahead."

"Billy, it's Tommy," the former White Ranger replied hastily. "Look, Hayley and I have been monitoring the frequencies of every major media frequency in the country, and there's been murmurs that identity of the Pink Ninja Ranger was revealed to someone earlier today. Hayley's already working on hacking into their networks and deleting all the video footage of Kim fighting, but it's going to take her awhile and she could really use an extra hand. This story's going to go public in less than twenty minutes, man; we're desperate."

Wasting no time by asking who this Hayley person was, Billy wheeled his chair over to a nearby computer station and brought it to life with a quick flick of the mouse. "Put Hayley on," said Billy, almost snappily.

"Alright. Thanks, Billy-man," said Tommy. "Here she is."

Billy nodded to himself as he waited for Hayley and started bringing up a variety of windows, mostly programs that he himself had created, all of which were entirely illegal for a civilian to be accessing for personal use.

"Hi Billy, this is Hayley," said the young woman moments later. "Listen, what programs are you using and I'll guide you into the different networks."

Grinning, Billy quickly replied, "Nothing you've ever heard of. Just give me IP addresses and any passwords I'm going to need. We don't have time to delete these files one by one. The world's going to have to go without its news tonight."

"Can you actually do that?" asked Hayley, clearly surprised.

Billy chuckled slightly. "Yes, I can, and I'm going to do it as soon as I get those IP addresses and passwords. Not to be rude, Hayley, but can you hurry it up a bit?"

"Damn, and Tommy says _I'm_ snappy," said Hayley, with a short laugh of her own. From there she started reading off some different numerical codes, followed by all the passwords and phrases Billy would need to access the various networks. "You know, I consider myself to be quite the genius when it comes to stuff like this, but if you can shut down everything I think even I will have to bow to you."

"Just call me King Cranston," said Billy dryly, his eyes moving across the screen as rapidly as his fingertips flew across the keyboard. For nearly fifteen minutes he operated like this, saying nothing except for the half-dozen times when Hayley asked him how close he was to being done, Billy giving the same response on each occasion. "I'll be done when I tell you I'm done."

He certainly was not trying to be disrespectful, rude, or short, but he had to concentrate on what he was doing if he was going to stop Kimberly's identity as the Pink Ranger from being exposed on an international level. As the twenty minute mark grew nearer and nearer, an exasperated Billy finally said, "Watch your computer screen and tell me what it does in five, four, three, two, one, now!"

"Pink flash," said Hayley.

"Now!" Billy replied.

"Yellow flash."

"Now!"

"Black flash."

"Now!"

"Red flash."

"Now!"

"White flash."

"Now!"

"Blue flash."

"It's done," said Billy, breathing deeply for he had forgotten to do so for nearly two minutes. "The Crane, Bear, Frog, Ape, Falcon, and Wolf Viruses have successfully been deployed. Turn on the TV and see it for yourself. I apologize, but I couldn't help but to add a nice little personal touch for a bit of character. You know, sort of like a hacker's mark."

Hayley laughed. "Hey, as long as you did what you said you were going to do, that's all I really care about. Tommy's turning on the TV right now and…oh my God, that is too funny! Billy, you are amazing!"

Billy grinned triumphantly, teleporting himself, his recliner, and the flat screen television back to their places in the first floor living room where he proceeded to take a seat and watch his efforts unfold onscreen. At that very moment, news anchors from every television station on Earth were telling the world about how they had breaking news regarding the identity of one of the Power Rangers, completely unaware that the graphics next to their heads were currently reading random things like _"I traveled 400 light-years from Aquitar and all I got was this crappy t-shirt," _and, _"Chicks dig the long ball," _and, _"I'm the (insert color here) Ranger." _At one point or another, each and every newscaster currently on the air had been declared a Power Ranger of at least one color.

Over his communicator, Hayley, Tommy, and Kimberly all doused him with congratulations and thanks, and it was only moments later that his cell phone started to ring. He allowed Adam's congratulatory call to roll over to voicemail, as one by one each of the Rangers called in to offer him similar praise. Then, as if on command, the calls stopped coming as his television screen flickered and changed stationson it's own accord.

The screen displayed what appeared to be a standard newscast; a single male anchor, blonde and handsomely dressed, sitting at a desk with a stack of papers in front of him, but right away Billy knew that this was no ordinary broadcast. "Hello, people of Earth, and welcome to this special broadcast that you will only find here, on PRNews," the man spoke, smiling a proud smile. "My name is Josh Weinstein and I'll be your host for tonight's show. As you'll soon find out, here at PRNews it's all Power Rangers, all the time. That being said, let's jump right into the news, shall we?"

Billy watched on in horror as an image of the Pink Ninja Ranger in action appeared alongside the anchor's head, grimacing visibly as the man continued on.

"Earlier today the identity of the Pink Ranger was revealed to me, in an exclusive interview with a source who at this time wishes to remain anonymous. However, I can assure you that his information is accurate, as you will see in the following clip. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I give to you…the Pink Ranger."

The image onscreen changed a second later, to an overhead view of the spacious grounds that were Angel Grove Park, slowly narrowing in on a location near a cluster of oak trees. Then a blonde haired, blue eyes beauty appeared, running for cover as an army of Putty Patrollers and the winged Titan, Goldar, chased after her. The camera followed her pursuit for a few seconds, her face remaining unseen until she ducked behind one of the trees, at which point came the fearful expression that Katherine Hillard was presently wearing. Billy could tell almost instantly that this was Katherine right after she had joined the team, when she was still unsure of herself and lacking confidence in her ability to be a quality Power Ranger.

Still, she moved her hand behind her back like she had done it a thousand times already, retrieved her Morpher, and thrust it outwards while shouting, "It's Morphin' Time!" There was a flash of pink light and seconds later the Pink Ranger had appeared in full morph, leaping from behind the tree to engage Goldar and the Putties.

"Billy," said Tommy, over the communicator, "What just happened there?"

Billy simply shook his head. "I have no idea."

--


	5. Big Rotten Apple and the Falcon's Flight

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter 4 - Big Rotten Apple and the Falcon's Flight**_

_**Original Posting Date: April 26, 2009**_

--

Surrounded by at least half a dozen fully armed and uniformed members of the New York City Police Department's SWAT team, Detective Jason Lee Scott drew a very deep breath—and his firearm as well—as he prepared to knock on the door marked _169_. He shared a brief look with his partner, a pretty blonde woman named Michelle Fordham who was a few years his senior; the pair exchanged simultaneous head nods, and then Jason started banging repeatedly on the apartment door while shouting, "Mr. Jones, it's NYPD, open the door now! We know you're in there, Mr. Jones! You have three seconds to open this door or I'm kicking it in; one…two…DAMMIT!"

The sound of splintering wood followed a moment later as Jason drove his shoulder into the door knocking it right off the hinges, while moving back to let the SWAT team in first. He and Michelle followed shortly thereafter, entering the apartment with their weapons drawn and at the ready, their eyes moving with their sweeping pistols as they searched for the suspect to multiple rapes and murders in the Central Park area. They had barely started towards the bedroom when gunfire erupted, a bullet ripping through the wall and whizzing right past Jason's head.

"Shit!" he yelled, ducking around a corner, pointing his weapon towards the ceiling as Michelle did the same, bullet after bullet being fired their way. "Mr. Jones, put your weapon down now! Don't be an idiot or you'll end up like those girls you butchered!"

"Fucking pig, I ain't kill nobody!" Jermaine Jones yelled back, continuing to shoot at Jason and his partner.

Jason rolled his eyes, looking to his partner as he muttered, "I hate when they call us that."

Then the gunfire ceased, Jason assuming it was for the man to reload his weapon, and as soon as he recognized his opportunity he took it without hesitation. A year dealing with the scum of New York City had taught him that, more often than not, you only had one good shot at taking a perpetrator down, and that when that chance came you had better make it a good one. Kicking the door down, he entered the room with Michelle on his heels and the SWAT team behind her.

Unfortunately he had acted just a moment too late, for the man was already reloaded and prepared to shoot once more. Jason gave little thought to his own safety, pulling the trigger on his gun twice, shooting Mr. Jones once in each kneecap. He went down with a cry of pain, but not before firing a shot at Jason that slammed hard into the right side of his collarbone area near his shoulder.

"Ahh!" yelled Jason, wincing visibly, falling to his knees as the SWAT team ducked around him and immediately swarmed Mr. Jones.

Michelle rushed to his side, touching his arm gently as she asked, "Are you okay? Did it pierce the vest?"

Grimacing, Jason shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure the vest stopped it," he muttered, forcing himself back onto his feet, turning to the SWAT team and saying, "Don't do anything but keep him down. I'm putting the cuffs on this bastard." He approached the now disarmed and injured man slowly, looking down at him with a smug grin, winking ever so slightly as he continued, "Mr. Jones, let's have a little chat, shall we?"

He asked for a pair of handcuffs from one of the SWAT members, which he then proceeded to slap on Mr. Jones' wrists as tightly as was possible. "Mr. Jones, you're under arrest for the rapes and murders of Jillian and Kristina Allen, Danielle Larson, and Amanda Reynolds. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have—"

"I told you, fool, I ain't kill nobody," the corn-rowed man reiterated.

"That's wonderful," said Jason, ignoring Mr. Jones completely. "You can tell that to the judge when he sentences you to twenty-five years minimum for shooting an officer of the law. Now, seeing as how I was so rudely interrupted, I'd also like to add that you have the right to legal counsel. If you can't afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as I have just read to you?"

It took a few more arguing tries, but eventually Jason was able to get Mr. Jones to confirm that he indeed understood his Miranda rights. Michelle had called for an ambulance during this time, and it was not much later that the paramedics arrived to take Mr. Jones to the hospital. As soon as Mr. Jones had been taken away, Jason turned to Michelle and forced a small smile as he said, "Well, I guess we should probably head back over to the precinct and start in on all the paperwork, huh?"

Michelle smiled, shaking her head and replying, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the paperwork. You should really get home, Jase. It's been a long day and I'm sure your girlfriend needs your help more than I do right now."

Jason closed his eyes and sighed. "I really don't want to argue, but you know I have to. Are you sure you're okay taking care of everything by yourself? You've had the same day I had and it's going to be even longer without my help."

Rolling her eyes playfully, Michelle nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm sure. Just get out of here before I change my mind."

Chuckling slightly, Jason held up his hands in defense. "Alright, alright, I'm going. I'd tell you to call me if you need help, but I know you wouldn't regardless. I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

"Take care, Jason," said Michelle, Jason nodding as he turned and walked away, rubbing the back of his neck. To say it had been a long two days would have been the understatement of the century; thankfully he had a partner who was not like the rest of this city, chomping at the bits to get a word with his girlfriend.

Several minutes later he was sitting behind the wheel of his black, police issued sedan, driving down the busy roads of New York City that, even after a year of navigating, he still hated with an intense passion. Suffice it to say, driving in New York City was an experience unlike anything he had ever dealt with before, a headache inducing necessity if there ever was one.

"Use your fucking indicator for crying out loud!" he had shouted, at least five or six times en route to his destination, whenever a passing car cut him off without signaling. Though it was only a few miles away, it took nearly half an hour for Jason to arrive at the Ballet Academy of New York, pulling into a parking lot filled with nearly a dozen news vans, a sight that caused him to roll his eyes exaggeratedly as he rhetorically muttered, "These slime balls just don't freaking learn their lesson, do they?"

Stepping out onto the pavement, he made an immediate beeline towards the front door to the school, where roughly fifty members of the media had gathered around, clamoring for a mere glimpse at the woman they so desperately desired. No sooner had one of them seen him coming then they all started his way, practically bum rushing him for a word or two, which Jason declined repeatedly on his way towards the academy, his anger growing increasingly more profound each time he was asked to speak. By the time he had reached the front door, he was damn near ready to blow.

Suppressing the urge to yell as he walked inside, he clenched his fists tightly and started down a long and narrow hallway, doors placed sporadically on both sides. He damn near punched the elevator door once it had closed behind him, but luckily he was able to think better of that particularly unintelligent option.

Once the elevator doors reopened he started down another hallway, stopping at a glossy oak door with an equally shiny, gilded, and emblazoned nameplate nailed upon it. Closing his eyes briefly, he ran his fingertips ever so gently across the carved letters and then quietly let himself inside, careful not to disturb any would be classes that might have been going on. There was only one person inside, though, and the very sight of her sitting at her desk was enough to have Jason smiling from ear to ear.

"G'day, gorgeous," he murmured as he walked towards her.

Katherine Hillard had been distracted, staring down intently at a stack of papers from behind a pair of stylish black reading glasses, causing her to jump in her seat a bit at the sound of Jason's voice. When she realized it was him, however, she was all smiles as well. "G'day to you, too," she replied with a wink. "What brings you my way?"

Jason shrugged. "Michelle got sick of me and sent me home," he answered, sharing a laugh with Katherine. "That's the joking answer," he continued, just a few feet away from her now. "The serious answer is that it's a goddamn mob scene outside."

"So, what, you're my own personal police escort, now?" Katherine questioned, grinning at Jason as she rose to her feet to greet him.

"Yeah, something like that," said Jason, gruffly, bending down slightly to meet her pursed and waiting lips. They shared a long, passionate kiss; a kiss that only ended when the need to breathe became overwhelming. As soon as their lips parted was when Katherine's true feelings started to shine through.

The couple of six months locked gazes momentarily, Katherine's eyes filling rapidly with tears. Biting back the urge to cry, she shook her head vehemently from side to side, but in the end it was no use. She burst into tears, flinging herself at Jason and wrapping her arms around him, grabbing onto him for dear life as he held her close to his chest.

"Shh, it's okay, sweetheart," he whispered, stroking her hair softly. "You know I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"It's awful, Jason," she replied, choking on her words as tears streamed down her face. "They won't leave me alone. Everywhere I go, its Pink Ranger this, and Pink Ranger that. I left a CD I needed for one of my classes in the car this morning, and I couldn't even go down there to get it. Those…_cretins_…they're always out there. I can't deal with this all of this crap anymore, Jason. It's too much."

Jason closed his eyes and nodded. "I know it's hard, Kat, but there's nothing we can do to stop it. They aren't breaking any laws, and believe me, I checked; multiple times. Maybe it's time to consider leaving the city, at least for a little while, just to see if things start to die down. I've got some vacation time I can take. Let's take that road trip down the coast that we've been talking about."

Pushing back slightly, Katherine looked up at Jason and sniffled, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. "I can't, Jase, not right now. I've been teaching these girls for over a year and they depend on me being here. As much as I would love to get away, I just can't do it."

"Katherine, those girls understand what you're dealing with. I don't think any of them would fault you if you took a leave of absence," said Jason, holding her squarely on the arms. "Listen, humor me a little bit and just go for a few days, and if you decide you want to come back then we can. I promise, the ocean breeze and some time away from this city will do you some good. Have I ever been wrong about something like this before?"

Katherine laughed. "No, you haven't," she replied, shaking her head once more. "I guess," she continued, pausing for a few moments. "I guess a few days wouldn't hurt. Karen's more than capable of leading my classes while I'm gone."

"See, that's the spirit," said Jason, grinning widely, pulling her back in against his chest and placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Eventually this stuff will all die down, Kat. Good or bad, something is going to happen that will make those people forget all about the fact that you used to be a Power Ranger."

Oh, if he only knew how right he really was.

They remained silent for quite some time, simply holding onto each other because doing so just felt right in ways that neither could readily explain. Finally, though, Katherine gave a tremendous sniffle and quietly said, "I think I want to go home now. I can't concentrate on work anymore."

Jason nodded. "C'mon, I'll help you pack your stuff," he replied, Katherine smiling at him appreciatively as they moved to gather up her belongings. Five minutes later, he walked to the window behind her desk and peeked through the blinds, shaking his head in disbelief as he turned to Katherine and added, "There's even more then when I got here. We're really going to have to book it to the car once we get outside, okay?" Katherine swallowed hard and nodded uncertainly, prompting Jason to ask, "You ready to do this?"

Taking a deep breath, Katherine murmured, "As ready as I can be, I guess. Let's just do it and get it over with."

"Alright, let's go," said Jason, taking her hand as they started towards the door. Neither spoke as they rode the elevator down, nor as they made their way outside. It was not until they had stepped into the evening air that the silence was broken by Jason, and only then because of the reporters running towards the pair. "Listen, just leave us alone!" he barked, seemingly having to drag a visibly startled Katherine through the crowd. "Neither one of us has anything to say to any of you fucking blood suckers!"

It took much effort on his part, but eventually Jason was able to get Katherine safely inside the car, resisting the urge to say more as he fought past the reporters on his way to the driver's side of the vehicle. They had surrounded the car almost entirely, some going as far as to bang on Katherine's window. Angered beyond belief, Jason climbed into the car and started it up, flipping on the sirens which were loud and piercing enough to cause the reporters to scatter.

He had never backed out of a parking space as fast as he did then, the tires squealing as he maneuvered the car in ways that would have made Paul Walker and Vin Diesel applaud. For nearly fifteen minutes they drove without speaking, Jason clenching the steering wheel tightly until finally he lost it while stopped at a red light.

"I hate them!" he yelled, beating his fists against the wheel. "I hate them so fucking much!" he added, causing Katherine to wince, a sight that immediately brought Jason's anger to a screeching halt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he murmured, shaking his head. "I just…I've never had anything, or anyone, make me as angry as those damn reporters do. They're freaking relentless, I swear."

"I know, I'm living it too," Katherine replied, her voice a near whisper as she stared out her window. "I don't know if it was worth all of this, Jase."

Jason furrowed his brow and asked, "What wasn't worth it?"

Katherine sighed as Jason started driving again. "Being a Power Ranger," she answered, feeling guilty as soon as the words had escaped her lips. "Up until two days ago, the fact that I was a Ranger was one of the greatest things that had ever happened in my entire life, but now, with everything that's happening to me, to us…I-I'm just not sure if it was worth it."

Immediately seizing her hand, Jason squeezed until she looked at him, smiling softly as he replied, "I know you feel that way now, and I'm sure I would feel the same way if I was in your shoes, but like I said before, things aren't going to be this way forever. Life's never going to be the same again, but you'll learn to adapt; we both will. Listen, as long as we've got each other, that's all that matters."

Katherine just shrugged and continued staring out the window, not really sure what to believe at this point. The rest of the car ride home was silent, Jason pulling into the driveway of a two-story house located in the Middle Village suburb of the Queens borough; a house that, just a month prior, had been a rather lonely place for Jason to live.

As soon as Jason had opened the door and let Katherine in she instantly headed for their upstairs bedroom, causing Jason to sigh as he closed the door behind himself. Deep down, as much as he wanted to be there for her, he knew that she needed to be alone right now, simply to try and sort everything out in her head without worrying about him too. Heading for the kitchen, he retrieved his cell phone from the pocket of his black slacks and quickly dialed a familiar number, raising the device to his ear as he listened to it ring.

"Man, I was wondering when you were going to return my calls," said Tommy, with a chuckle.

Somehow Jason found the ability to laugh half-heartedly as he replied, "Yeah, sorry about that, bro. I'm sure you can imagine how crazy things have been around here since the story leaked. They just won't leave us alone, man."

"I can't even _begin _to imagine, bro," said Tommy, the truthfulness of his statement evident in his voice. "How's Kat holding up?"

Jason sighed as he opened the refrigerator. "As good as can be expected, I guess," he answered, pulling out the box of leftover pizza from the night before. "It's tough, man. Like you said, I can't imagine what it would be like being in her position; which kind of brings me back to the reason I called you in the first place."

"What's up?" asked Tommy.

"Nothing really," said Jason, taking a healthy sized bite of the six meat pie. Chewing rapidly, he swallowed and added, "I just wanted to let you know I might not be reachable for the next few days. Kat and I are going to go for a little drive down the coast. I really think some time away from here will do her more good than she realizes."

Tommy laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. As well as I know Kat, I'd be willing to bet my house on the fact that she's a nervous wreck right now."

"Ha!" exclaimed Jason, shaking his head. "Let's just say you have no idea, and leave it at that. Nervous wreck is the understatement of the century, bro." He and Tommy shared a knowing laugh at that, followed by a long pause as both looked for something to say. Inevitably, it was Jason who continued, "So what's going on with you and K—"

Before he could finish his question, however, he was interrupted by a loud, shrill scream coming from Tommy's end of the line, followed moments later by a distant voice shouting, "Tommy, get in here! They're everywhere! They're attacking me and I can't stop them!"

"Was that—" Jason started.

"Kim," Tommy finished, his words gasped as he hastily added, "I'll talk to you later, bro."

The line went dead after that, as five thousand miles away Tommy took off in a dead sprint through his house, rushing from the living room to where Kimberly was yelling at him from the laundry room. More than ready for a fight, Tommy burst into the laundry room only to slip the second his feet touched the linoleum floor, going air born for a moment before falling onto his back amongst a sea of soapy suds. Groaning loudly, he spit some of the stray bubbles out of his mouth, pushing himself up slightly to see Kimberly looking down at him with an expression somewhere in between absolutely horrified and just plain amused.

"Wow, way to go, slick," she muttered, shaking her head as she offered Tommy a hand up.

Once he was on his feet, Tommy brushed some of the suds away from his face and replied, "You said that you were being attacked." Moving knee-deep through the soapy floor, he made his way to the washing machine and turned it off, ceasing the further expulsion of more suds. Turning to Kimberly, he added, "Now, I don't know about you, but the washing machine typically isn't the first thing that springs to mind when a normal person thinks of an attacker. I thought you were freaking dying in here."

"For a second there, I thought I was too," said Kimberly, still laughing as the image of Tommy's fall played over and over in her head. "You should have seen yourself, Tommy. You burst in all ready to save the day and now look at you."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well maybe next time I won't come. Hopefully it's the washing machine again and not those things that came after you in Florida."

"Oh, don't you worry about them," said Kimberly, waving his comment off dismissively. "I can take care of those guys no problem. It's the washing machine I can't seem to handle. Maybe because it's got nine million knobs and an electronic screen with options and instructions in every language on the freaking planet! How can any human being be expected to work something like that?"

This time it was Tommy's turn to laugh, a fact which had Kimberly glaring at him as though he had committed some great travesty. "Aww, what's the matter, Kim, can't handle a little washing machine?" he questioned, with an air of teasing condescendence. "Oh, but that's right, you're a _progressive_ woman. Doing laundry would be like spitting in the face of the entire feminist movement, wouldn't it?"

"Hardy-har-har," Kimberly replied dryly. "I'll have you know, Mr. Manly Man, that for the first six months during training for the Pan Global's, since I was the youngest I had to do laundry for the entire team; and let's just say that some of those girls weren't exactly the most hygienically knowledgeable people."

Tommy crinkled his nose at that one. "That's pretty gross, Kim, but thanks for sharing. Next time, just bring your pet rock or crappy goldfish for Show and Tell, 'k?"

"Oh, you're just the wittiest little son of a bitch on the planet, aren't you?" said Kimberly, sneering at Tommy. Tommy just shrugged and nodded helplessly, he and Kimberly locking eyes for a few moments until both, without warning, burst out in laughter. By the end of it Kimberly was clutching at her sides, waving her hands in an attempt to make it stop. "No more, no more," she panted, shaking her head. "It freaking hurts from laughing so hard, Tommy."

"Damn, if you were only a man," said Tommy, trying to rub the pain from his ribs.

"_What?_" said Kimberly, her laughter ceasing instantly.

Taking deep breaths, Tommy shook his head and said, "I would have had a great line had you been Jason or one of the other guys. Kind of a 'that's what she said,' type thing that would have involved a blatant reference to the nether regions."

Kimberly narrowed her eyes briefly, thinking about what Tommy just said. Then, when it hit her, her eyes went wide as she replied, "Eww that is _so_ gross. You guys and your wieners, I swear, it's like a freaking competition. Let's just get this cleaned up and keep the dick talk to a minimum, okay?"

Laughing, Tommy nodded and started looking around the room, wondering where exactly to start. It was a thought that left his head hurting slightly, causing him to rub the back of his neck awkwardly as he turned to Kimberly and said, "Umm, how exactly to we do that? I'll be honest, being a Ranger prepared me for a lot of things, but an overflowed washing machine wasn't one of them."

"Two brooms and some of the biggest trash bags you've got would probably be a good place to start," said Kimberly, waving Tommy off to retrieve said items.

Rolling his eyes, Tommy nodded once more and turned to leave, taking careful steps back out into the hallway where he proceeded to track soap suds all the way through the house and into the garage, leaving another trail alongside the first one on his return trip to the laundry room once he had gathered the brooms and trash bags.

"Well, let's do this," said Tommy, after he had handed Kimberly a broom and a fistful of large black trash bags.

Kimberly just nodded and went to work on cleaning up, but Tommy was not so quick to action. Oh, he started off the same, but it took only a few minutes of loading suds into trash bags for him to get distracted. With an idea already implanted in his mind, he fought the urge to grin and gathered up a large clump of foam in his right hand. "Hey, Kim," he called out softly.

"Hmm?" said Kimberly, slowly turning to face him.

"Say hello to my little friend!" Tommy replied, in his best Tony Montana accent ala _Scarface_, throwing the ball of bubbles directly into Kimberly's startled face. "Okay, huh, chu like that? Chu want more?"

Spitting the suds out of her mouth, Kimberly wiped enough of the foam from her eyes so that Tommy could see her roll them, then made a bubbly ball of her own and muttered, "Don't forget, Tommy, Tony dies at the end of the movie."

--

Where did he go from here? That was Tommy's sole thought nearly an hour later, as he stood in the shower with his head hung low, a steady stream of hot water cascading through his hair, down his neck and toned back. He closed his eyes and saw himself, throwing fistful after fistful of soapy suds at Kimberly, in what had turned into an all out war that had left both of them covered from head to foot in white foam, the whole time laughing in disbelief at how childish the whole thing really was.

But then Kimberly had made a move towards him and slipped; of course, Tommy tried to catch her, but he too lost his balance, and in the proceeding struggle to remain standing, they had both gone tumbling down, Tommy landing on top of Kimberly with their faces just mere inches apart. It had taken every ounce of self-control his six-foot tall, one hundred and sixty-five pound frame could muster not to capture her lips right then and there, lips that had looked oh so kissable from his position hovering over her.

Luckily he had been able to resist that urge, positive that kissing Kimberly would have done irreparable damage to their friendship, even though he was pretty sure she had wanted the kiss just as much as he had; unlike in his teens, Tommy could now read Kimberly's facial expressions just as well as she could read his.

It was not supposed to be this way; of that much Tommy was absolutely certain. He had gotten over her; years ago, in fact. Six and a half years he had gone without her kiss, and though it was hard at first he had eventually learned to live without it. So, why now, after all these years had passed, did he find himself wanting to do nothing more than rewind to back to that proverbial fork in the road, to change the path that he had chosen the first time around?

Deep down, he knew there could be no denying that, at the very least the physical attraction between them had not wavered over the years. Hell, she was even more stunning now than she had been as a teenager; and if Tommy was reading her correctly, she seemed to like what she saw as well. He had caught her taking her fair share of long looks when she thought his back was turned, and was damn near positive that he had heard Kimberly giggling on the phone with Aisha late one night in her room, specifically catching words and phrases like: hunk; so hot; the most gorgeous eyes; and, his personal favorite, even better than high school.

Rubbing a dollop of shampoo into his hair, he could not help but to let his mind wander to the place where it had so often gone before, wondering what it would be like to go to those places with Kimberly that neither had been at all ready for when they had been an item in high school. With a smirk on his face, Tommy chuckled slightly and muttered, "Pretty damn good, I bet."

If he was honest with himself, part of him knew that he should have seen this coming the second Kimberly had agreed to come to Reefside. Just being near her, as it had always done in the past, did things to him that he had never been able to explain before; things he still could not explain even now.

Letting out a deep sigh, he shut the water off and threw the curtain back, reaching through the steam for the nearby towel rack. He grabbed a towel, brought it to his face, and started patting it dry; completely unaware to what he was holding for several minutes until most of the steam had finally cleared.

"What the—" he started, staring at the towel with a confused expression on his face, for it was certainly no towel that he himself had ever purchased, nor had he seen it before until just now. It was a towel made for the beach, white and emblazoned all over with the White Morphin' Ranger's helmet, as well as images of the old Tiger Zord both in and out of Warrior Mode. Almost instantly he realized that it had to be Kimberly's towel, a thought that had him shaking his head in disbelief as he laughed heartily. "That is too funny," he murmured, proceeding to dry the rest of his body, wrap the towel around his waist, and pad back into his bedroom.

He had completely forgotten that Kimberly was sharing his shower, since the shower in the guest bathroom had been mysteriously broken following a surprise visit from Adam and Rocky last year, and since Tommy rarely had houseguests he had simply delayed the repair over and over until it too was forgotten entirely, amongst the many other things that he still needed to fix around the house.

Dressing in a pair of dark blue jeans, tan low top tennis shoes, and a white collared shirt—which he wore with the top two buttons undone and the cuffs rolled back thrice—he left his room with the towel in hand, heading for the now cleaned laundry room. He pushed the door open to find Kimberly hunched over, tossing her wet clothes in the dryer.

"Watcha got there?" said Kimberly, looking up at Tommy as he walked behind her, swiveling her head to follow his movements.

"Your towel," said Tommy, laughing once more as he dropped it into the washing machine. "White Ranger, huh? Very classy, Kim," he continued with a wink.

Almost instantly Kimberly felt her neck grow hot, her cheeks turning a vibrant shade of pink as she stammered, "I-I-I bought that thing years ago; like, sophomore year."

"Uh-huh," Tommy replied, rolling his eyes. "That's why it's still soft and barely even faded."

"I don't use it that often," said Kimberly, much quicker this time.

Tommy just laughed and muttered, "Whatever you say, Kim." Closing the lid on top of the washing machine, he turned to Kimberly and added, "I'm gonna call for pizza. What do you want on your half; pepperoni, sausage, olives, and mushrooms like always?"

Kimberly's eyes narrowed briefly, then a small smile crossed her lips as she murmured, "You remember that?" Tommy nodded, Kimberly shaking her head as she continued, "Remind me how you can forget your communicator at least a dozen times, but still remember what my favorite kind of pizza is after seven years."

Chuckling, Tommy shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I guess there are some things you just never forget, you know?"

Wearing a thoughtful expression, Kimberly nodded her agreement and asked, "Chicken, bacon, and pineapple still?"

"Impressive," replied Tommy, he and Kimberly sharing a laugh. "Alright, I'm gonna go call."

"Okay," said Kimberly, waiting until he had passed before turning her head to follow him, biting down hard on her lip as she stared at his butt. "Shake what your momma gave you!" she called out to him, her hand flying to her mouth upon realizing she had verbally expressed the thought that had just been running through her head.

Freezing on the spot, Tommy looked back over her shoulder and laughed. The only thing he shook was his head, though, walking away as he searched through his cell phone for the number to his favorite mom and pop pizzeria in town. Unfortunately, though there were quite a few advantages to having a house secluded in the woods, when it came to ordering a pizza it was all disadvantages, specifically because no delivery guy in the world could ever seem to find the house. After two years, and dozens of undelivered pizzas, it had gotten to the point where Tommy had just given up and decided that it was time to go the pickup route.

Fifteen minutes later he was behind the wheel of a black Jeep, a somewhat recent purchase of his, driving down the winding dirt roads that led from his house and through the woods for nearly ten miles before dumping him off on one of Reefside's main streets. It took another fifteen minutes for him to reach the strip mall that housed the pizzeria, swinging his Jeep into the parking space nearest the door.

He went inside and paid for the pizza, breadsticks, and two-liter bottle of root beer, walking out a short while later with two boxes in one hand and a large soda bottle in the other. Setting the boxes on the hood of his Jeep, he reached into his pocket for his key ring only to feel a hand clasp him firmly on the shoulder, yanking him back and tossing him across the parking lot with relative ease. Not even gravity itself could seem to stop Tommy's flight, his body flailing wildly through the air for what seemed like hours before he finally slammed hard into the passenger side of a parked SUV.

Groaning loudly as wave after wave of pain rushed up and down his spine, Tommy raised his head and looked up just in time to see a figure descending on him through the night sky. Somehow he was able to roll away, causing his assailant to collide with the SUV as well. Fighting through the pain that seemed to flood his entire being, Tommy was able to scramble back onto his feet, gingerly nursing the lower half of his back as he formed something of a defensive position.

"Who are you?" Tommy demanded, carefully eyeing his attacker, who was now pulling his head from the shattered window.

Wearing dark glasses and a long black trench coat, the bald headed man turned to Tommy and sneered as he replied, "Just an old friend looking to settle some unfinished business, that's all."

With that, Jared Grant launched himself at Tommy once more. Tommy looked up and saw the man descending on him, tried to react, and found that he could not move, his whole body seemingly paralyzed. Then, at the last moment, everything slowed down dramatically. Without intending to, Tommy suddenly sprung forward at breakneck speeds, a piercing cry filling his ears as a vibrant flash of white enveloped him entirely. A second later his white Ninja robes had appeared, at the same time that Tommy drove his right knee directly into Jared's chin.

Landing gracefully, Tommy watched as Jared's head snapped back violently, sending him flying into the bed of a nearby pickup truck. A sly grin crossed Tommy's hidden lips as he looked down at his new garments, touching the golden medallion on his chest that bore the image of the falcon. The admiring of his outfit, however, was ended moments later when he heard a rustling noise emanating from the bed of the pickup. Then Jared Grant was back on his feet, leaping at Tommy for the third time.

"These guys never learn," he muttered, launching into a tornado kick that connected hard with Jared's chest, throwing him into the pickup truck once more. This time, however, he was much quicker to stand.

"Enough of these games!" shouted Jared, his eyes flashing red in a manner that instantly took Tommy back to his days as Rita Repulsa's evil Green Ranger. Thrusting his hands to his sides, Jared stared directly at Tommy as balls of crackling red energy began to form in his hands. "The time has come for you to die, White Ranger!"

That being said, Jared sent the pulses of energy rushing straight at Tommy's chest, catching the White Ninja Ranger entirely off guard. Again, though, the Power seemed to have other intentions for him, as his body acted of its own accord. He executed a perfectly timed Butterfly Twist, his body spinning in midair over the energy blasts being sent his way.

"Whoa," he gasped, upon landing, looking up just in time to see Jared preparing for another round. The next shots came moments later, followed by more and more as Tommy went back hand springing through what was thankfully a fairly empty parking lot. Thinking he was far enough away, Tommy forced his body to stop and immediately regretted it, two back-to-back energy blasts slamming into his chest.

He went flying once again, this time landing on the asphalt some fifty feet from where he had just been seconds prior. Another groan escaped Tommy's lips as he writhed on the ground in pain, his eyes squeezed tightly shut so that he could not see Jared approaching him with an air of cocky casualness. Next moment there was a familiar crackling sound, followed by two battle cries that were like music to Tommy's ears. Forcing his eyes open, he craned his neck up to see Kimberly and Billy in their pink and blue robes, connecting with simultaneous flying kicks to Jared's chest.

How it was possible, considering that Billy's hands were gloved and his lips covered, Tommy did not know, but Billy brought his fingers to where his lips were hidden and a shrill whistle followed shortly thereafter, then a bright flash of blue light and a loud, ferocious growl. Scrambling up a bit, Tommy's eyes went wide as a glowing and slightly transparent blue wolf seemed to appear from out of nowhere, baring its teeth at Jared Grant while slowly approaching the grounded man.

As soon as he realized what was happening Jared was back on his feet, staring at the wolf momentarily before turning an angry glare to the trio of Power Rangers. "This is not over! One way or another, you will all die!"

Red flashed next moment and then he was gone, Kimberly and Billy rushing to check on Tommy. Dropping to her knees at his side, Billy standing behind her, Kimberly touched Tommy's arm lightly and said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Tommy grunted, pushing himself into a sitting position. "The pain's mostly gone."

"Good," said Billy hastily. "I need to get back home. Be sure to thank Hayley."

And then he was gone as well, leaving Tommy staring at Kimberly, his mask hiding the bewildered expression on his face. "What does that mean, Thank Hayley?"

"Apparently Hayley spends her free time monitoring your morphological energy signals," said Kimberly, trying to disguise the bitterness in her voice as she offered Tommy a helping hand onto his feet. Truthfully, she was a bit angry that it had been Hayley to realize that Tommy was in danger and not her. "When she saw your signal spike, she contacted Billy, who then teleported to me, told me what was up, and that's that."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Tommy shook his head and said, "She doesn't monitor mine specifically. It's a long story, but the Cliff Notes version is that when I went back to the Command Center I found a bunch of blueprints for stuff, showed them to Hayley, and we built a program capable of tracking the morphological energy of every single person on the planet; when certain locations spike, Hayley gets an alert on her cell phone."

In the back of her mind Kimberly was pretty sure that she should have been impressed with what she had just heard, but the only thing she could think to say came hissing out of her mouth a second later. "How in the hell does Hayley know about our fucking identities?" she questioned, resisting the urge to slap him upside the head.

"Yeah, that's a long story as well," Tommy replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well then you can tell me over cold pizza," said Kimberly, shaking her head. "Let's find a place to power down and then we can drive home."

Tommy just nodded his head in agreement, following Kimberly's stealthy creep towards the backside of a nearby building, but beneath his mask a wide smile crossed his lips. She had not called it "his place," or "your house," but "home," a word that carried much more power than her other available options.

Forty minutes later they were seated on the couch in the living room, each of them with a plate of food, Kimberly's resting on her lap as she sat cross-legged and facing Tommy, demanding that he now explain why Hayley knew of their secret. Lifting a slice of pizza to his lips, Tommy's motion stopped as soon as her question was asked; with a sigh, he dropped the pizza back onto his plate, set it on the coffee table, and turned to Kimberly.

"To understand why Hayley knows, you first have to understand the relationship that Hayley and I have," said Tommy, Kimberly nodding and motioning for him to continue. "I met Hayley during my sophomore year of college. She was a junior, but we were in the same physics class. We ended up being lab partners, and as the semester wore on we started to become friends. The night before our mid-term we were studying in my apartment, when Kat called me from New York. She and I were trying the long distance thing, but it seems like I'm not really cut out for it.

"She broke up with me that night; she said the distance between us was just too much. Not to bring up old stuff, but all I could think was that it was you and me all over again; and it couldn't have happened at a worse time, or at least that's what I thought back then. I immediately got belligerently drunk—again, a poor decision with ultimately positive results—and proceeded to pour my heart out to Hayley. I didn't mean to tell her that I had been a Power Ranger, but I slipped up and made some comment about not dating anymore Pink Rangers. After that I was pretty much stuck. I didn't tell her everything that night, but as we got closer I started telling her more because I knew I could trust her. The thing about Hayley is that she's incredibly loyal to the people she cares about. If there was one person on this planet I had to tell a secret to, hands down, no questions asked it would be Hayley."

Giving herself a moment to process what she had just been told, Kimberly nodded and said, "So I assume you told her about all of us, me and the other Rangers?"

Tommy shook his head. "I didn't have to," he replied, with a slight chuckle. "The other thing about Hayley is that she's incredibly intelligent, and even more resourceful. She saw some pictures of the team back in high school and pretty much pieced things together herself as soon as she figured out that we were all wearing the same colors in every picture. We were hanging out at my place one night and I had to run out for a minute. When I came back, she was sitting on the couch with a bunch of pictures and all my old yearbooks. By that time she had figured out everybody except Tanya and Justin."

Shock was the only word to describe the look on Kimberly's face as she stared back at Tommy, barely able to manage a meager, gasping, "Wow."

"Yeah," said Tommy, smiling. "Like I said, I didn't intend for her to find out, but believe me when I say that our secret is safe with Hayley. I know it probably sounds crazy, but Hayley would rather die before she gave any of us up. That's just the type of person she is. I've never met a more loyal person in my entire life."

Kimberly could not help but feel a twinge of guilt at that. Perhaps, had she not broken his heart, he would have been saying that about her instead of some other woman whom she really did not like all that much. For what had to be the thousandth time she cursed herself for having ever dropped that God forsaken letter in the mailbox in the first place.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" said Kimberly, a bit hesitantly.

Taking a bite of pizza, chewing, and nodding his head, Tommy swallowed and said, "Yeah, go for it."

"Why does Hayley hate me so much?"

Tommy sighed. "She doesn't hate you, Kim; at least, I don't think she does anyway. She just," he started, pausing and shifting his train of thought slightly, continuing, "You and Jason were the Rangers I told her the most about, and after everything that happened, obviously some of the stuff that I told her about the two of you wasn't always very positive, that's all. Like I've said before, Hayley is ridiculously loyal to the people that she cares about. If she has a fault, though, it's that she tends to carry grudges even when she doesn't have any reason to. What happened between you and me is between you and me, and that's how it should stay, but Hayley doesn't necessarily see things that way. Sometimes she likes to get involved in things that don't really concern her."

Closing her eyes briefly, Kimberly shook her head as she looked to Tommy and quietly murmured, "Seven years after the fact I'm still paying for my mistakes, huh?"

Chuckling softly, Tommy patted Kimberly on the knee and rose to his feet. "Don't worry about it, Kim. What's done is done and there's nothing anyone can do about it," he replied, heading towards the kitchen for more pizza. When he returned a few minutes later, he sat back down next to her and added, "C'mon, Kim, don't look all upset; it's really not that big of a deal, I swear. You haven't even talked to Hayley since last year. That's a long time for someone to have to change their mind about a person."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "You said it yourself, Tommy, Hayley's fiercely loyal to you, and I'm just the stupid bitch of an ex-girlfriend that broke your heart. To be honest with you, I still don't understand why _you_ forgave me after what I did. I really don't know if I would have been able to do the same thing if our roles had been reversed."

"Look, Kim," said Tommy, trying hard not to sound too impatient, "we've had this conversation before. We can't change the past, and since we're being honest here, I wouldn't change it even if I could. Everything that has happened to me, to us, it happened for a reason and it's made us the people that we are today. Obviously I can't speak for you, but I'm pretty happy with where I'm at right now."

One thing that had definitely not changed over the years was that Kimberly could still read Tommy's face as easily as if it had been a large-print book. She could tell he did not like talking about the collapse of their relationship, that it was already starting to stir up feelings and emotions that he truly had no desire to deal with ever again, and it was with those thoughts in mind that she decided to switch gears, mostly because she did not want to push Tommy away when their friendship was only just now really starting to get back on track since she had come to Reefside.

"You know, I still can't believe you're actually going for your doctorate. That's so weird to me," said Kimberly, shaking her head. "Of all the career choices you could have made, a high school science teacher and Doctor of Paleontology was one of the last things I would have ever thought of for you. I guess I kind of always saw you opening your own karate school or something like that."

Tommy laughed. "You're not the first person to tell me that and I really doubt you'll be the last. My parents were floored beyond belief when I told them, and I'm pretty sure Jason thought Rita had kidnapped and brainwashed me again when he found out. In high school I wanted to teach; mind you, it was karate and not science, but I still wanted to teach nonetheless. When Zordon died, though, it hit me pretty hard. I'd been with him longer than anybody except Alpha, and I found myself wanting some kind of connection, you know? All things considered, dinosaurs and prehistoric stuff like that just seemed like a logical step to take."

"I'm sure you're a great teacher," Kimberly murmured, flashing Tommy a grin that left him smiling from ear to ear. "You were always so good with the little kids at the Youth Center. Teaching high school was probably like second nature, huh?"

Again, Tommy laughed, this time with a slow shake of his head as he replied, "You'd think it would be that way, but no, not really. Teaching high school science is a completely different beast than an after school karate class, and it requires a whole lot more patience, which I didn't really have when I first started out. More often than not, the kids in my classes now don't really give two craps about what they're being taught, because to them it's just another class that they have to take in order to graduate. That's where I kind of miss teaching karate; those kids wanted to be there and they were always so damn eager to learn. Those were some fun times back then."

"Do you ever miss it? The past, I mean."

"For a long time, yeah, I did," Tommy answered honestly. "But you can't live life that way, or one day you're going to wake up in bed and realize that it has already completely passed you by. Life's no fun if you always want things to be like how they used to be. Hayley convinced me to take some Psychological Theory class with her my junior year, and on the class syllabus the professor printed a quote at the top that said, 'Treat every day like it's a gift; we call it the present for a reason.' Cheesy as it might sound, that quote was what did it for me, and I haven't looked back since."

Kimberly narrowed her eyes. "So you don't even think about the past?"

"Of course I _think_ about the past," said Tommy, with a laugh. "I spent three and a half years as a Power Ranger, Kim, how could I _not_ think about the past? I just don't dwell on it anymore, or wish things were like they used to be. Do I miss things from time to time? Sure, who doesn't? But missing parts of your past and wanting to relive them are two entirely different things."

Nodding her understanding, Kimberly smiled and said, "Yeah, that makes sense, I guess."

Did it really, though? Did it really, truly make sense? Of that, Kimberly was not so sure. Yes, she did understand what he was saying to some extent, but at the same time there were certain things that, whenever Tommy spoke of them, there always seemed to be a smile on his face and a glimmer in his eyes: his days as a Power Ranger; afternoons spent teaching karate; the things they had done as a couple; as though he would have loved nothing more than to go back to those undeniably happy times, even if for only the briefest of moments.

Life had changed Tommy; that much Kimberly was positive of. He was not the shy boy he had once been, afraid to express himself for fear of being ridiculed, even by the people whom he was closest to. There was an undeniable air of confidence that he carried everywhere he went; he knew that he could handle anything that was thrown his way because he had already been through everything imaginable.

That was what he thought, at least. Despite everything that he had experienced over the years: saving the world, death, betrayal, and painfully broken hearts, the honest to goodness truth was that he not seen anything yet. Taking another bite of pizza, Tommy smiled towards Kimberly, completely oblivious to the notion that everything he had come to know these past few years was about to be changed forever.


	6. A Long Road Home

_**Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter Five - A Long Road Home**_

_**Original Posting Date: May 3, 2009**_

--

Tommy sat alone in his house that Saturday afternoon, occupying the couch with a large, elegantly designed book resting opened on the coffee table in front of him. Flipping through the glossy transparent pages, Tommy smiled at the multitude of photos from his high school days, the number of which, not surprisingly, seemed to drastically increase midway through his freshman year.

Certain photographs he merely glanced at, others he studied as he recalled the memories surrounding that particular picture. His smile widened when his eyes settled on a picture from his first year at Angel Grove High School, actually causing him to laugh out loud as he shook his head at what he saw. It was of he and Kimberly at the Homecoming Dance, their first dance together, clashing horribly because both had steadfastly refused to wear a color other than their own as Rangers.

"Dark green and bubblegum pink definitely don't work," mused Tommy, aloud.

For quite some time he continued to go through the book, stopping every few pages to revisit another place in time. He saw dates with Kimberly, afternoons in the park with the other Rangers, candid shots of he and Jason teaching karate classes together in the Youth Center. Then, little by little, the pictures started to change.

Jason, Zack, and Trini were no longer there, replaced by the smiling faces of Adam, Rocky, and Aisha, and that is where he stopped for good. He did not want to see the next power change; dealing with it the first time had been hard enough. Instead, he chose to focus on what was easily his happiest time as a Power Ranger: he and Kimberly were official, he had powers that he knew could not be siphoned by the likes of Lord Zedd and Rita, and he alone had been graced with the profound responsibility of leading the six-member team, the only living people on Earth who were capable of defending the planet from those who had threatened to destroy it.

His eyes landed on a picture of all six, sharing a table at the Youth Center, cheesing wildly for Ernie's camera. Somewhere in the back of his mind, an oddly pleasant notion started to creep its way into the forefront of his thoughts, causing a small smile to cross his lips. With the way things had been going the past week or so, Tommy had the distinct feeling that it would not be long before they were a team once more, and that alone was enough to leave him grinning from ear to ear.

Hundreds of images rushed into his mind at that point: he and Kimberly fighting side-by-side; long, afternoon sparring sessions with Adam and Rocky; Aisha and her quick wit; Billy and the way he always seemed to have an answer for every problem, no matter how astronomically impossible doing so actually was. It was going to be just like high school all over again.

At first that seemed like a normal enough thought, but then Tommy remembered the conversation he had had with Kimberly just two days prior, when he had told her that she could not dwell on—and hope to live in—the past. Tommy hated to think of himself as a hypocrite, but how could he not feel that way when he had done the very same thing that he had so firmly instructed Kimberly not to do?

Had he really been wrong this whole time? Was longing for the past as bad as he had made it out to be? Because if being excited at the prospect of being a team again was wrong, then Tommy had no desire whatsoever to be right. The mere thought of them all together once more was enough to convince Tommy that maybe, just maybe, reaching back into the past was not always such a bad thing, especially when it made you feel as happy as he did at that moment.

Smiling to himself, he closed the book and picked it up from its resting spot, rose to his feet and walked across the living room, deposited the book into its place on a nearby shelf and then headed for the kitchen. He had just started to reach into the refrigerator for a sports drink when the cell phone in his jeans pocket began ringing. Grabbing the bottle of dark blue liquid, Tommy kicked the door shut and hastily retrieved his cell phone, answering it the second he saw the name flash on his Caller ID screen.

Clearing his throat loudly, trying to sound casual yet professional, he calmly answered, "Hello?"

"Tommy, its Anton," said the man on the other end.

"Dr. Mercer," said Tommy, pretending to sound surprised. "How are you, sir?"

Anton Mercer laughed heartily. "Tommy, please, enough with the 'sirs' and 'Dr. Mercer's.' Really, Anton is fine."

Tommy chuckled. "Sorry, Dr. Mer—I mean, Anton. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm out here at the dig site with some of my colleagues from the museum," Anton replied, his voice almost tantalizing Tommy into clinging at his every word. "I really think this is the big one, Tommy. You were as much a part of this dig as anybody, and I want you to be here when we go public with it."

Eyes widening, Tommy quietly asked, "Is it what we thought it was?"

"No, Tommy, it's not," said Anton. "It's even better than that. I don't want to spoil it, though; you have to see it for yourself. I know its short notice, but do you think you can make it out here before sunset? I've already had my assistant call some of the local news stations and they're on their way here right now."

"Are you serious? Of course I can come!" Tommy excitedly replied, already moving through the house to gather up his personal belongings. "I'm leaving in ten minutes and I'll be out there within the hour."

"Very good, Tommy," said Anton, the pride in his protégé evident in the older man's voice. "I'll see you shortly."

"Yeah, see you," said Tommy, flipping his phone shut and then right back open, dialing another number as he grabbed his keys from the nightstand beside his bed. He listened to the phone ring as he continued through the house, the line finally clicking after he had settled into the seat behind the wheel of his Jeep.

"Calling to make sure I haven't been jumped by goons?" asked Kimberly, with a laugh.

Rolling his eyes, Tommy tucked the phone against his shoulder as he started the ignition and sarcastically said, "Not even; that would require me to care. I'm just letting you know that I have to run out for awhile. I don't know when I'm going to be back, so you might just have to drive the Mustang to Angel Grove alone, alright?"

"Oh yeah?" said Kimberly. "And just where are you running off to, mister?"

Adjusting the phone once more, Tommy started a slow roll out of the garage and down the driveway as he replied, "The dig site I was telling you about the other day; the one on the other side of town. My professor, Dr. Mercer, thinks he found something major and he wants me there when they uncover it."

"Alright, just don't lose track of time and forget to come. We can't have the leader of the team setting a bad example by being late, now can we?"

Tommy started to reply with something witty, but ended up just sitting at the base of his driveway with his mouth agape, silently pondering something Kimberly had just said. After all these years, not to mention the fact that Zordon was no longer around, if the team ended up back together again, did leadership duties still fall to him? He had no problem resuming that role, in fact he felt even more prepared for it now than he had as a teenager; but what if one of the Rangers, or all of them for that matter, decided that they were ready to try their hand at the leadership position?

He could easily see it becoming an issue, now that they were all adults who had grown up significantly from their teenaged days. Adam, Billy, Rocky, and Kimberly all owned their own businesses, and thus had all become quite used to being their own bosses. For the first time since they had agreed to this meeting, Tommy was genuinely concerned as to what the result would truly be.

"No, no we can't," said Tommy, a bit tightly, determined to be the first one to arrive at the outskirts. Snapping back into reality, he hastily threw the Jeep into gear and sped off as he continued, "You still at the mall?"

"Yeah, and I just saw a really hot guy and he's coming my way. Talk to you later, Tommy."

"But—" Tommy started, the line clicking dead before he could utter another word. He stared at his phone screen in disbelief, feeling his blood boil as, through heavily gritted teeth, he muttered, "Son of a bitch," completely unaware that, twenty miles away, Kimberly was currently standing half-naked in a department store dressing room, having quite a good laugh at the reaction that she knew she had caused.

Navigating the bumpy terrain en route to town, Tommy found his drive to be rather distracting. The only thing he could seem to think about was Kimberly, one image burning a hole into his psyche. For some reason he had a scene in his head, and it was of Kimberly casually leaning against a pillar in the food court, picking at a cup of frozen yogurt and grinning as the "really hot guy," threw his best lines her way. The scene played out so that he was in the position of the guy, unable to see anything but Kimberly as she raised a spoonful of the dessert to her lips, licking it ever so sexily. Then she giggled and nodded, taking the man's hand and walking away with him, leaving Tommy red in the neck and enraged to no end.

But why? He had no feelings for her beyond friendship, so why did he care what she did with some other guy? Convincing himself that it was nothing more than brotherly protection—completely ignoring the near kiss from two days ago—he found his emotions start to subside just as he had pulled to a stop at the dig site; a deserted spread of sandy ground and hills of various shapes and sizes. Hopping out of his Jeep, he noticed an area off in the distance that had been blockaded by yellow caution tape and immediately took off jogging that way.

As he grew closer he noticed that the tape was actually surrounding a deep trench, its contents piled up in sandy mounds all around the hole; then he saw the top of a head that he knew instantly to be Anton's. The hair was dirty blonde and as long as it was wavy, a head of hair that Tommy mused he would be lucky to have when he reached his late forties like Anton.

A narrow pathway had been made between the small hills of sand that surrounded the trench, Tommy approaching the edge with his heart thudding rapidly against his chest. He had known whatever they were digging was major, but if it was even bigger than what he and Anton had previously discussed, then it could have only been one thing. From where he stood looking down at the forty foot long fossil, Tommy could not yet tell for sure what it was.

"A-Anton," Tommy called out hesitantly.

Raising his head, Anton looked up at Tommy and smiled. "There he is. Come on down, Tommy, and see what we've found. You're going to love this."

Swallowing hard, Tommy nodded and moved towards the nearby rope ladder, climbing down it carefully. He touched down gently on the soft earth, turning to Anton and saying, "Is it—"

"Tarbosaurus," said Anton, nodding, grinning when he saw Tommy's eyes glimmer.

"You're sure?" asked Tommy, Anton nodding again. "You checked the jaw structure; the nasal cavity; everything?"

"Even the rigidness of the skull, Tommy," said Anton, grinning as he watched Tommy move to inspect these things for himself. It took only a few minutes for Tommy's jaw to drop, followed by him turning to Anton and attempting to formulate a coherent thought. Anton just laughed and added, "I told you this was the real deal. Do you have any idea what this means, Tommy? We've found the first entirely connected Tarbosaurus fossil in the history of our science. In a place where it wasn't even indigenous, no less! My friend, this is utterly remarkable!"

Tommy could hardly find the words, barely able to shake his head at the thoughts that were currently running through his mind. It was surreal, to be the very first person to discover something no one had ever seen before. "I-I can't believe you found this."

"_We_, Tommy," corrected Anton. "_We_ found this. Do you realize what the museums in Washington D.C. would pay for something like this? Enough to fund a lifetime's worth of digs and then some, that's how much. Of course, you'd still get back your initial investment, plus the twenty-percent bonus we discussed."

"Actually, it was fifteen," said Tommy, still trying to grasp the notion that this was real.

Laughing, Anton clasped Tommy on the shoulder and said, "Tommy, my boy, here's a little tip for your future business dealings. When someone offers you more than what you initially agreed upon, count your blessings and don't correct them."

Tommy laughed as well and replied, "I don't want the twenty, Anton. The only reason I said I'd take the fifteen is because that's as low as you were willing to go. Use that money for something good; do those things with your son you always talk about wanting to do. God knows, we could all use a break now that this dig is almost over with."

Anton nodded, patting Tommy on the back as he said, "Come on; let's get out of this hole. I think I hear more cars pulling up which probably means the reporters are here. I'm sure they'll want to have a word with you if you're up for it."

Still intending to be the first one at the outskirts, Tommy quickly checked his watch before answering. It was getting close to five o'clock and he needed to be at the outskirts by six-forty, since seven o'clock was the time they had agreed upon. Add in the hour drive and Tommy nodded his head towards Anton. "Yeah, I've got a half-hour or so to spare. I'd stay longer, but there's something really important I have to do at seven."

"A date with that pretty little roommate of yours?" asked Anton, the dumfounded expression on Tommy's face causing him to laugh out loud as he started back up the rope ladder.

Shaking his head, Tommy muttered, "I wish" to himself and then proceeded to follow Anton back up above ground. By the time he had gotten back to his feet, several reporters were quickly approaching them with microphones in hand and camera crews in tow.

"Good luck," said Anton, flashing Tommy a grin as the reporters divided themselves amongst the pair. Being a renowned scientist and paleontologist, Anton certainly gained most of the attention, and deservedly so, but for being a relatively unknown figure in this world, Tommy was actually rather happy with the crowd of four men and women that had gathered around him.

The first question came—_"__What does this discovery really mean?"_—and it took Tommy a few moments of quiet thinking before he was able to come up with an answer. "I-I really don't know, to be honest. When you're the first to do something, you never really know what the impact is going to be. Obviously, for something like this, it's pretty safe to say it's a major discovery, and all of us who were involved on this dig believe that this finding is something worth caring about."

He had not expected to be this at ease, but fielding questions like this was hardly a difficult process. He was the leader, used to being the center of attention; now he was kind of like the opening act, and he was more than okay with that.

"You know, the word going around is that the Smithsonian Institute is prepared to offer a payday in the mid-to-high eight figures," one of the female reporters commented, leaving to wonder just how many people Anton had actually called. "Any thoughts on that?"

The answer rolled right off Tommy's tongue. "Money isn't really important; at least not to me, anyway. It's the discovery itself that really matters. The Tarbosaurus is something this world has never seen before, and that alone is worth being excited about. Honestly, if you guys want to talk money, Dr. Mercer is the man to speak with."

A few of the reporters looked Anton's way, but no one made to leave. There were at least a dozen people surrounding him, a crowd that was going to make it pretty impossible to get a word in edgewise.

The next question came moments later and time just seemed to slip away from that point, Tommy fielding questions on everything from the dig and the discovery, to what he did in his personal life. He explained the differences between the Tarbosaurus and its North American cousin, the Tyrannosaurus, and told them about his job as a high school science teacher all in the same breath.

He would have gotten lost in all of it had it not been for his cell phone buzzing against his leg mid-question, Tommy having set himself a reminder that he needed to leave by five-thirty. With relative ease he pried himself away, quietly approaching Anton from behind, making faces for the video cameras while placing rabbit ears atop his unsuspecting mentor's head. It was not until the reporters and crew started laughing audibly that Anton realized what was happening, playing back by throwing his arms around Tommy's neck in a headlock/noogie combination, the cameras eating it all up.

Tommy and Anton had started laughing as well, and as he freed himself from Anton's grasp, Tommy turned to the older man and quietly said, "I have to run." Then, turning back to the cameras, he pointed at Anton and added, "This man is a legend. Quote me on that."

Anton just kept on laughing, shaking his head as he and Tommy grasped hands. Minutes later Tommy was behind the wheel of his Jeep once more, driving off towards the freeway when his phone began to ring again. It was a shrill tone this time, though, and immediately Tommy felt the pace of his heart quicken. Like Hayley, he too had his cell phone programmed to alert him when the morphological energy in certain areas spiked; specifically, Angel Grove.

"Shit," said Tommy, throwing caution to the wind, simultaneously ignoring close to a dozen laws as he yanked the emergency brake and jerked the wheel hard to the left, spinning his car one-hundred and eighty degrees across the painted center divide. He needed to get to Angel Grove, but not without being prepared. Unfortunately, he had been unable to test the Ninja Coins, and therefore did not trust them if there was real danger.

No, he needed something else.

He needed his Zeonizer.

--

Behind the wheel of Tommy's Mustang as she shot down the freeway en route to Angel Grove, Kimberly was peacefully unaware of the energy spike that had just occurred near the outskirts of her destination, nor did she have any clue who or what had caused it. She maneuvered the car in and out of traffic like an old professional, Tommy having already taught her quite a few of his racing tricks in the short time that they had spent together.

Without warning she pushed down hard on the gas, jerking the wheel to the right as the car went shooting unscathed across three lanes of traffic, right onto the freeway off-ramp. Coming to a stop at a red light, she let out a sudden cry and immediately thrust her hand into the pocket of her denim short-shorts, ignoring the burning sensation against her thigh—and now hand—as she retrieved her Power Coin. It was glowing a vibrant shade of pink and was hot to the touch, far too hot for her to hold for any length of time, which caused her to hastily dispose of it in one of the vehicle's cup holders.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered, wincing as she shook her hand wildly, blowing on it with every powerful breath she could muster. "Ahh, dammit, that hurts like hell! What th—"

Her Power Coin had ceased glowing, but was now levitating on its own accord, moving at a sloping upward angle until Kimberly was staring right at it. Then there came a distant, singsong voice, a voice that she quickly recognized, but could not immediately place a face to.

"_The time has come to hear my voice, now listen close so you can make your choice. Do not be alarmed, for you've heard me before; to your left and your right, each side holds a door. I can see your conflictions, your worries, and fear; of the things you've not done in many a year. But do not be afraid, as the courage still resides; and as long as you are living, it will never subside. Alas, it's your choice, and once it's done, it is done; for the world to survive, six must become one. So do what you must, I won't fault your decision; but when you make it, remember, the words I have given. Now I must run along, I must bid you adieu; goodbye and good luck, whatever you do…"_

Next moment, the traffic light switched from red to green and the coin instantly ceased its glowing, shooting back into its resting place inside the cup holder, Kimberly staring out the windshield with her mouth agape. Where had she heard that voice, and what was it trying to tell her? Her need to hear the words again left her unable to move, simply sitting there motionless until several honking vehicles snapped her back to attention.

Grumbling a few choice curse words, she hit the gas and turned onto Angels Parkway, one of Angel Grove's three main roads, a street that would lead her straight to the outskirts on the other side of town. The rest of the drive there her mind was distracted, and not surprisingly. She knew the voice, knew its singing tone and the way it almost taunted her, but where she had heard it before she just could not seem to remember. For some reason, the image of a young child in funny clothing popped into her head just as another red light obstructed her progress.

She continued to ponder the voice as she sat waiting for the light to change, this time without paralysis when it finally went green. By the time she had pulled up to the base of the mountainside that had once housed the Command Center, it was six-thirty and she still had not yet been able to figure out who the voice belonged to, nor had she been able to stop racking her brain in search of some kind of recollection that would reveal the speaker's identity.

Sighing, hoping that it would just come to her later like those things always seemed to do, she killed the engine, pocketed her Power Coin, and stepped out of the car. No one else seemed to have arrived at that point, but as she turned around she saw a set of headlights coming from off in the distance. Then she looked to that painfully empty spot on the mountainside, the place that for so many years had been home to the one person whom she had always thought was invincible.

Blinking away a few stray tears, Kimberly shook her head and started her trek towards where the Command Center had once been. Rather quickly she was reminded of how much she hated having to make this hike; the ground was rocky and quite unstable, not to mention incredibly steep, making her wish that Billy had had the time during their rescue of Tommy two days ago to link up her communicator signal with his teleportation grid back in Boston.

Her legs were aching long before she had reached the top, Kimberly looking back over her shoulder to see three shadow figures at the base of the mountain. Adam, Rocky, and Aisha, she thought to herself, reasoning that Billy would probably be teleporting—_the selfish bastard!_—and that Tommy was unsurprisingly late for yet another event.

She was breathing heavily by the time her journey up the mountain had ended. Looking around, she whispered, "Oh, thank God," and then proceeded to collapse onto her back, staring up at the night sky while attempting to catch her breath. Once her breathing had steadied, she decided to call Tommy, and pulled her cell phone from her pocket only to find that she had no service whatsoever. "Freaking typical," she grumbled, rolling her eyes in disgust as she shoved the phone back into her pocket.

Closing her eyes, she found herself drifting away rather quickly, losing track of time entirely. Then, out of nowhere, someone was poking her stomach, followed by a voice saying, "Kim, you alive? C'mon, Kim, it's wakey-wakey time."

"Fuck off, Rocky," grumbled Kimberly, knowing that it was him before she had even opened her eyes. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of the stick that Rocky was poking her with, seizing it firmly and yanking it out of his hand as she sat up, looked around, and continued, "Where are the others?"

"About two-thirds of the way up the mountain," answered Rocky, with a grin. "Halfway up, I got tired of walking like a snail to keep pace with them, so I just said 'Screw it,' and sprinted the rest of the way."

"You sprinted?" said Kimberly, her surprise obvious.

"Army, Kim, remember?" Rocky replied, Kimberly nodding hastily. Laughing, Rocky shook his head and added, "And they called _me_ the dull one. Can you believe that?"

Sneering at Rocky, Kimberly muttered, "You're so lucky my legs are still on fire, Rocko, or I'd get up and throw your dumb ass right back down the mountain myself."

Rocky just kept on laughing and took a seat on the ground next to Kimberly, the pair chatting casually as they waited for the others to arrive. When Kimberly pulled out her phone a few minutes later to check the time—it was two minutes until seven—and just as she started slipping the device back into her pocket a familiar crackling sound arrived behind her.

"Hey, Billy," said Kimberly, not even bothering to look back.

Rocky did though, smiling towards the former Blue Ranger as he said, "Hey, Billy-man, what's up?"

"Greetings," Billy replied, waving as he approached the seated duo. "Tommy, Adam, and Aisha haven't arrived?"

"We're here!" shouted Adam, the top of his head just barely peeking up from the edge of the mountainside. Breathing hard, he clamored into a standing position and turned around to help Aisha the rest of the way up. Then they both made a beeline to Rocky, delivering simultaneous slaps to the back of his head.

"Hey!" Rocky exclaimed, looking around wildly. "That hurt! What the hell was that for?"

"For making your best friend help your _wife_ up the freaking mountain!" Aisha replied, shaking her head as she flopped onto her butt at Rocky's side and grumbled, "Smooth move, flyboy; real smooth."

Rocky immediately proceeded to start the apology process, Adam chuckling at his friend's expense as he looked to Kimberly and said, "No Tommy?"

"Are you surprised?" asked Kimberly, Adam grinning knowingly as he shook his head. "He ran off to some fossil dig thingy and _promised_ he'd be here on time, which means we've got at least a good fifteen minutes before he gets here."

"That's fine with me. I could use a breather after that hike," said Adam, taking a seat in between Rocky and Billy, completing the small circle they had unintentionally formed. "Man, I forgot how tough that hike is," he added, rubbing his burning calves gingerly.

"Tell me about it," said Kimberly, chuckling lightly.

"So, Kim," Aisha interjected, "any idea what Tommy's thinking?"

Kimberly shrugged. "I'd like to think the answer is obvious, but when it comes to Tommy, I can't make that assumption. He could easily go a completely different direction than what I'm thinking he'll do."

"And just what do you think he'll do?" Rocky inquired, raising a curious eyebrow.

Looking down at her feet, Kimberly shook her head and quietly replied, "I think he's going to ask us to go active again. I don't see how that's even possible, though. Billy and I had to use the Ninja Coins again a couple days ago and got, like, no power whatsoever compared to what I felt at the mall. It's like the Power chose to be really, really strong for that one moment when I needed it the most, and then just grew legs and walked away right after."

"Rocky and I still have our Zeonizers," Adam supplied.

"Yeah, Tommy too," Rocky added, echoing Adam's veiled reply that both of them were ready to take up their Morphers again if need be.

"Great," said Aisha dryly. "What about me, Kim, and Billy? We're not really useful without reliable powers, now are we?"

"Hey, I resent that," Billy interrupted. "I think I proved myself to be incredibly useful to the Zeo Rangers without having any powers of my own."

Sharing a knowing look with one another, Rocky and Adam simultaneously turned and pointed at Aisha, "Oohing" dramatically at her expense. "Billy-man just called you out, 'Sha," Adam added, with a hearty laugh.

"He's right, too," said Rocky, nodding. "We would have been screwed without Billy doing his thing in the Power Chamber."

"Fine, fine, I take it back," said Aisha, laughing as she waved her hands in surrender. "Forget that I even mentioned Billy's name."

"Hey!" Kimberly exclaimed, preparing to defend herself as well when four sets of eyes all settled on her, silently daring her to even try it. Opening her mouth, Kimberly clamped it shut and meekly murmured, "Fine, I guess I need powers, too."

The mood remained light as they waited for Tommy, laughing and joking in what was the first time they had all been together since high school, without the cloud of death hanging over their heads. Time pressed on, and still there was no Tommy.

"Any of you guys have cell service up here? I want to call Tommy, but I have, like, zero bars," said Kimberly, looking around at her friends as they all pulled out their mobile phones to check, all of them except Billy that is. The former Blue Ranger just looked around at them, shaking his head in disbelief as Kimberly added, "No cell phone, Billy?"

"Oh, no, I definitely have a cell phone," Billy replied, still shaking his head, holding up his wrist as he added, "But I also have a communicator."

Realization swept over them shortly after that, causing all four to start laughing out loud once again, this time at their own expense. Once their laughter had subsided, Kimberly brought her communicator to her lips and pressed the button to contact Tommy, but was met with nothing but a shrill beep and loud static.

"What the—" Billy started, only able to recall a rare occasion or two when their communicators had ever failed them.

"I have disabled your communicator frequencies," said a deep, male voice, coming from the shadows some twenty feet away. All at once, the five Rangers scrambled onto their feet and took up defensive stances, all but Aisha having immediately recognized the voice. Jared Grant emerged from the shadows a moment later, flanked on all sides by a large army of his Dark Soldiers. "Rest assured, by the time the White Ranger arrives, your broken bodies will be all that remains."

Jared left no time for anyone to reply, disappearing in a flash of red light as the Dark Soldiers started to charge the Rangers.

"Everyone spread out!" shouted Billy, assuming leadership as he was the most tenured of the present Rangers.

"Right!" the others replied, nodding their confirmation without question.

"See ya!" said Kimberly, running away as a handful of Dark Soldiers gave chase. Approaching a cliff nearly thirty feet high, she literally ran up it and flipped back at her peak, landing behind the Dark Soldiers. "Neat trick, huh?" she muttered, grabbing two of the soldiers by their heads, slamming them together.

She was not quick enough for the other soldiers, however. She threw a thrust kick at the chest of one, but went stumbling forward when her leg passed through its body, as did the rest of her own body, leaving her feeling like she had just stumbled through a thick wall of mist as she lost her balance and fell down. "Dammit," she muttered from her position on the ground, shaking her head as she pushed herself back onto her feet and added, "I hate when they do that."

All around her, the other Rangers were experiencing similar results; quick advantages turned the other way when their attacks were suddenly rendered useless. It did not take long for any of them to realize that their chances of doing any kind of significant damage to the soldiers were slim at best, leaving them with only one viable option; escape. It took some time, but eventually the Rangers were able to break free from their attackers, running from all sides back to the point where they had met, stumbling backwards towards the edge of the cliff as the Dark Soldiers converged around them.

Craning his neck over his shoulder, Rocky muttered, "Last one down the hill's a rotten egg."

Just as he made to leave, though, a giant red blur came down fast on the group of Dark Soldiers from high above, the other Rangers staring up in shock and awe at the mass that two in their ranks had never even seen before. In the cockpit of the Red Battlezord, Tommy squished his foot on the floor as his Zord mimicked his motions, rubbing the already squashed Dark Soldiers even further into the mountain.

"Well, that was an unexpected twist," said Billy, shaking his head at their fortune.

From the top of the Red Battlezord's black five-point star of a face came Tommy, flipping through the air, landing in front of the other Rangers, fully morphed as Zeo Ranger V—Red. "Looked like you guys could use a hand," he murmured, powering down in a flash of red light.

"Talk about making an impact," said Adam, laughing slightly as the Red Battlezord suddenly took flight back to its docking bay, revealing a black and grey mound of flattened Dark Soldiers.

"You were still late, Tommy," Kimberly grumbled, pretending not to be thankful for their much needed save.

"Yeah," Tommy chuckled, nodding, "and with good reason, too. I was on my way here when I got an alert on my phone telling me that the morphological energy had spiked in this area. It was too early for it to be any of you, so I ran home to get my Zeonizer just in case. Seems like a good idea, considering the way things were looking when I got here."

"We could have handled them, right, guys?" argued Kimberly, half-heartedly at best, looking around at her friends for some support, though it seemed none of the other Rangers wanted to give her their endorsement. They, unlike Kimberly, were not too proud to admit that they all would have been in some very deep trouble had it not been for Tommy's intervention.

"Regardless," Tommy quickly replied, "Whether you guys could have taken them or not is beside the point. They're gone, and that's all that matters. Now we can discuss why we're all here in the first place."

"Which is?" said Aisha, a curious expression on her face.

Tommy nodded, already prepared for what needed to be said. "I think it's safe to say that the signs are impossible to ignore. Jason, Tanya, Zack, Kat—well, aside from the whole exposed identity thing, I mean—haven't really been targeted by this Jared Grant guy. He's coming for the six of us specifically; why, I don't know, but for whatever reason our animal spirits seem to have something important to do with it."

"So what's your point?" asked Rocky.

"My point," said Tommy, slowly, "is that this guy isn't like the others. He doesn't care about taking over the planet, or destroying it, all he cares about is killing _us_, and he's not going to stop trying until he succeeds unless we stop him first."

"But how, Tommy?" questioned Billy. "You said it yourself; the Ninja Coins aren't strong enough to power a fully energized morph anymore."

Tommy shook his head. "Not right now, no," he countered, "but I think I know how to change that."

"Really?" said Kimberly, sounding genuinely surprised since Tommy had not yet mentioned this fact to her, "Since when?"

"I've been thinking about it every night since you got attacked in the mall," Tommy answered, looking around at the other Rangers, "Then Rocky and Aisha, Adam, Billy, and, most recently, me. The Power came to us when we really needed it. I'm only speculating on this, but I think by showing the Power that we're ready to be a team again, it will prove how much we really need it."

A few looked skeptical—specifically Aisha, Billy, and Kimberly—while Adam and Rocky looked willing to gobble up anything that could be construed into a plausible explanation. It was Adam who spoke first, looking to Tommy and saying, "I assume you have a plan to test this theory?"

Tommy nodded. "If everyone's willing to try, then yeah, but I don't think it will work without all six of us in agreement of what needs to be done." He looked around once more, but this time only at Aisha and Kimberly, the only two in the group he was worried about. They, unlike Adam, Rocky, and himself, had given up their powers and duties as Rangers willingly. If anyone was going to say no, he knew it was going to be one of those two. Billy he was not concerned about, simply because the former Blue Ranger had already shown his willingness to take up the mantle again when Trey of Triforia had needed to transfer the Gold Ranger powers temporarily during the team's Zeo era.

"I'm ready," said Adam, nodding.

"Affirmative," Billy added, mimicking Adam's gesture.

Tommy turned to Rocky, expecting him to be next in line, but found that he was instead looking at Aisha, posing a silent question to his wife. Was she okay with this, ready for the dangers that awaited them if she said yes? Aisha, however, did not hesitate in nodding her agreement to her husband's request. Grinning from ear to ear, Rocky threw his arm around Aisha's shoulder, looked to Tommy, and said, "We're in, too."

All at once, five sets of eyes turned to Kimberly, leaving her feeling quite vulnerable. Truthfully, she did not really think that she was ready to be a part of this life again. Coming to Reefside was never intended to be a long-term arrangement, and being an active Ranger once more would in turn mean being away from her school for even longer. Still, she could not find the ability to say no, knew she could not say it, especially not after everyone else had already said yes so eagerly.

"Let's do this," muttered Kimberly, forcing herself to nod.

That was all Tommy needed to hear. "Okay, let's form a circle," he instructed, everyone moving at his request. He took his place between Kimberly and Aisha, Billy and Rocky on their other sides, and Adam completed the circle. Holding up his hands at his sides, he motioned for the other Rangers to do the same, continuing to speak only once he had felt Kimberly and Aisha's palms touch his. "Alright, now close your eyes and look deep within yourself. Concentrate as hard as you can on your animal spirit."

He looked around to make sure everyone had closed their eyes, and then did the same as he pressed on, "As a wise woman once said, 'Buried deep within all of us is an animal spirit waiting to be released.' Our spirits have already been released, but now we need them once more. My name is Tommy Oliver. I am the falcon, just and able."

Next moment he felt a surge of power flood through his body, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut tightly as a beam of crackling white light shot from his chest, stopping at the center point of their circle.

Beside him, Aisha looked deep with in herself and said, "My name is Aisha Campbell. I am the bear, cunning and fierce." She too felt the same rush that Tommy did, depositing a beam of yellow light alongside his.

"My name is Rocky DeSantos. I am the ape, mighty and strong."

Red soon joined white and yellow.

"My name is Billy Cranston. I am the wolf, silent and sure."

Blue light quickly followed, creating a ball of crackling energy that simultaneously fluctuated between all four colors.

"My name is Adam Park. I am the frog, courageous in spirit."

Five colors now crackled, leaving but one remaining.

"M-my n-name," Kimberly stammered, trying so desperately to get the words out. "is K-Kimberly Hart and I-I am the c—" she paused, her eyes suddenly snapping open, shaking her head as she looked around and said, "I'm sorry, you guys, I can't do this."

Everyone's eyes opened up at that point, looking to an embarrassed Kimberly as she took off running down the mountain wildly, uncaring to her safety so long as she got out of there as quickly as humanly possible. She could not bear to see the looks on their faces, the disappointment they must have been feeling towards her for what she already knew to be cowardice, unable to look beyond what she had in Florida and see the bigger picture.

Aisha made to go after her, but Tommy quickly blocked her with his arm. "Don't, 'Sha, let her go. She needs to figure this out on her own."

"By on her own, you mean that you're gonna give her no more than half an hour alone before you go chasing after her, right?" Aisha replied, giving Tommy a knowing look.

"Maybe," Tommy muttered, cracking the faintest hint of a smile.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Aisha, laughing and shaking her head.

Where she was going, Kimberly did not know, but fifteen minutes later she was back in Tommy's Mustang, driving towards Angel Grove as fast as her own fears would allow her to go; roughly ninety miles per hour. If she got a ticket, then so be it, at this point she really did not care at all.

Tears started to flood her eyes just moments later, streaming down her face as the realization of what she had done hit her with full force. She had betrayed all of them, turned her back on her friends and her duties just like she had done nearly a decade prior. Still, she knew that what she had done was a necessary evil; she could not leave her school to falter, not after she had worked so hard to get it where it was. Plus, if she was honest with herself, she just flat out did not think she was capable of doing it again after all these years had passed.

She cried the whole time as she drove, tears continuing to fall even after she had pulled the car over and climbed out. Unsure as to why she had chosen this place, Kimberly looked out on the darkened waters of Angel Grove Lake and knew this was where she needed to be, the place where she had always gone in her youth to ponder her most important of decisions. She approached the beach slowly, the sand cool to the touch as she lowered herself into a seat well away from the water's edge.

It was there she remained for quite some time, simply staring at the water, wondering how in the world the others would ever be able to forgive her. Had she really made the right decision in saying no, especially when her reasons for doing so were considered?

"Hardly," she muttered, shaking her head as she picked up a flat stone, slinging it into the lake with a triumphant, "Hmmph!"

"That's a pretty strong arm you got there," said Tommy, smirking at the startled expression on Kimberly's face, which he saw after she had jumped in her seat and whirled around to face him.

"Tommy," she murmured, almost to herself, turning back and closing her eyes as he approached because he was the last person on the planet that she wanted to see right now.

"Let's go," he grunted, seizing her around the waist, effortlessly pulling her onto her feet.

"Go where, exactly?" questioned Kimberly, looking none too happy at the way Tommy had just manhandled her.

"For a walk," said Tommy, not really caring what Kimberly thought at the moment. He started walking along the beach and Kimberly found herself immediately following, not really knowing why though.

"How'd you find me?" asked Kimberly, looking towards the water, anywhere but at Tommy.

"Hayley tracked your energy pattern," Tommy answered, going right to the point as he continued, "Tell me why you left."

"You wouldn't understand," Kimberly muttered, shaking her head.

Tommy chuckled bitterly and said, "Try me, Kim."

Kimberly sighed. "Face it, Tommy; you were born to be a Power Ranger. You love doing it more than anything; it's obvious, and I'm glad you get so much joy from it, but I can't do it anymore. I've spent the last three-plus years of my life getting my school to the point it's at now. I'm _this_ close," she continued, using her thumb and forefinger to show him, "to reaching my goals. I can't turn my back on them now."

"Oh, but you can turn your back on us, on the fucking planet?" Tommy replied, rolling his eyes in dismay. "That's selfish as all hell, Kimberly, and you and I both know it. You think you're the only one giving something up by doing this? I'm a semester away from my doctorate, but I'm willing to put that on hold, you know why? Because lives depend on it," he continued, answering his own question. "If we don't stop this Jared Grant guy, he's either going to kill us, or we can try to hide and watch as he destroys everything else around us. Tell me something, Kim, what good is having a successful gymnastics school if the FUCKING PLANET IS DESTROYED!?"

Visibly wincing, Kimberly shuddered and said nothing, unable to find any words that could even remotely defend her actions, for she too knew how selfish it really sounded. "I-I told you, you wouldn't understand," she managed meagerly.

Tommy scoffed. "Fine, Kim, run away again. It's not like I'm surprised, but this time realize there's no one to replace you. When all of us have ended up in body bags, remember that it was your decision that made it that way."

That being said, Tommy wheeled around on his heels and took off in the direction that they had come from. Kimberly stood rooted to the spot as she watched him go, trying to follow, but unable to move. She wanted to explain herself, at least apologize to him, but it was impossible. Then, out of nowhere, that same voice from earlier rang out in her head, repeating it's veiled and cryptic message.

"_The time has come to hear my voice, now listen close so you can make your choice. Do not be alarmed, for you've heard me before; to your left and your right, each side holds a door. I can see your conflictions, your worries, and fear; of the things you've not done in many a year. But do not be afraid, as the courage still resides; and as long as you are living, it will never subside. Alas, it's your choice, and once it's done, it is done; for the world to survive, six must become one. So do what you must, I won't fault your decision; but when you make it, remember, the words I have given. Now I must run along, I must bid you adieu; goodbye and good luck, whatever you do…"_

"Quagmire," she whispered, confusing her even more. She did not have time to think on it, though, for Tommy was nearly gone. Concentrating as hard as she could, she took a hesitant step forward and called out for him to stop. Tommy froze and turned around to see Kimberly running towards him, stopping just short and saying, "I'll do it, but on one condition."

"What's that?" said Tommy, skeptically.

"I have to be able to teleport back and forth to my school," Kimberly answered firmly. "I'll pull double duty if that's what it takes, but I'm not just going to sit back and watch everything I worked so hard to build just crumble to the ground. If you can agree to that, then you've got yourself a Pink Ranger."

"Fine," Tommy muttered, turning and walking away once more, looking over his shoulder and adding, "Let's get back to the outskirts. The others are still waiting for us."

Nodding, Kimberly followed him as he walked back towards the street, careful to keep a few feet between them since it was obvious he was none too impressed with her at the moment. She hung her head the entire walk, unable to even look at him after what she had done. Not only that, but there was also still the question of how the others would react to her once she and Tommy had returned to the outskirts.

As they grew closer to the street, she raised her eyes and a confused expression soon followed; the Mustang was the only car in sight. "Where's your Jeep?" she asked quietly, as he approached the Mustang.

"Where I left it," answered Tommy, not even bothering to look back at her.

Kimberly sighed. "I know you're mad at me, Tommy, but—"

"Not mad, Kim," Tommy interrupted, turning around and shaking his head slowly as he added, "Just disappointed that it came to this. I'll see you in a little bit."

Before she could say another word he was gone, a crackling column of white light shooting high into the night sky. "Dammit, Billy," she grumbled, opening the driver's side door of the Mustang, knowing that he had linked Tommy's communicator—and probably everyone else's, as well—tto his teleportation grid after she had run away. Starting up the car, she told herself that having to drive back and make the strenuous hike again was a small price to pay, all things considered.

Twenty miles away, Tommy had just reappeared amongst the other Rangers, all of whom were staring at him with anticipatory expressions. Holding up his hands before anyone asked, Tommy nodded and said, "She's in."

"Oh, thank God that girl came to her senses," said Aisha, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Yes!" exclaimed Adam and Rocky in unison, pumping their fists and exchanging high-fives with each other.

Billy smiled. "Most excellent," he murmured, nodding as well. "I presume you left her to drive?"

"Yeah," said Tommy, with a chuckle. "I figured making her walk back up the mountain again was punishment enough."

Adam raised a skeptical eyebrow, saying, "And you trust her to come back? You're not worried that she said yes just to get you off her back and stuff?"

Tommy shook his head. "She won't run away again."

"How can you be sure?" questioned Rocky.

"Her eyes, bro," said Tommy, in a near whisper. "I could see it in her eyes." Then, cold as ice, he quietly continued, "Besides, if she does run away, I'll just hunt her down again and bring her back here myself."

No one seemed to want to argue with that, for the topic of conversation was changed rather quickly, to something much lighter as they waited for Kimberly's arrival. By the time Tommy could see her halfway up the mountain it was close to ten o'clock, damn near ten thirty before she finally reached the top, breathing heavily as she looked around at the others with an expression of embarrassment on her face.

"Let's do this," said Tommy, quick to direct traffic.

The others gave no question, gathering around in the same position that they had been in over two hours ago. Tommy's hand barely touched hers this time around, making her feel even worse than she already did. The fact that he had said he was not mad at her, but instead disappointed, was perhaps the hardest pill for her to swallow, though, just as it had been whenever her parents had delivered that same line to her in her youth.

Unbeknownst to her, however, Tommy was actually doing her a great service by acting so hastily, intentionally saving her from having to defend herself to the other Rangers. Of course, he was not about to let her know that he was acting this way on her behalf.

One by one the closed-eyed Rangers repeated their words from earlier, starting with Tommy, then Aisha, Rocky, Billy, and Adam, until finally only Kimberly was left once more. White, yellow, red, blue, and black light had again all joined at the heart of their circle, crackling louder and louder with each passing moment, its glow becoming increasingly brighter as it waited for the final part to join its ranks.

"My name is Kimberly Hart," she spoke, softly but confidently. "I am the crane, agile and graceful."

A rush of pink energy erupted from her chest next moment, hurtling towards the center of the circle, slamming into the ball of crackling light. Suddenly the ball started spinning, elevating even higher into the air, until it hovered a good ten feet off the ground. Then cracks began to form in its sides, large beams of different colored light shining in every direction imaginable.

What happened next left them all smiling, as the sounds of their various animals rang out in unison all around them: the cry of the falcon; the growl of the bear; the roar of the ape; the howl of the wolf; the croak of the frog; and the piercing screech of the crane, sounding ever so powerful as the ball of energy proceeded to shatter without warning, bathing the Rangers in columns of bright light. The second it hit them in their chests they knew that it was indeed for real as wave after wave of the most incredible feeling power imaginable washed over them, leaving the six shrouded in their ninja robes, their heads hooded and faces masked.

"Yes," Tommy whispered, inspecting his gloved hands, balling them into triumphant fists.

"It worked!" exclaimed Rocky, he too feeling the Power at its full strength once again.

"Amazing," murmured Aisha, shaking her head.

"It feels incredible," said Adam, the first to pull away his hood and mask, revealing his trademark squinty-eyed grin.

"Morphinomenal!" added Billy, exposing his face as well.

"I can't believe it really worked," said Kimberly, quietly. "You were right, Tommy."

Turning towards Kimberly, Tommy nodded and said, "Looks that way, huh?" He allowed a smile to creep across his face then, all his ill feelings towards her rushing away now that he had his powers back.

"How can we be sure, though?" asked Billy, looking to Tommy as he continued, "Yes, we were able to accomplish our—presumably full-powered—transformation to Ninja Ranger mode, but we still have yet to actually morph."

"Always gotta bring the party crashing down, don't ya, Billy-man?" said Rocky, with a laugh.

"No," Tommy interjected, shaking his head. "Billy's right. There's only one way to know for sure if it actually worked or not."

Adam half-raised his hand and said, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I gave my broken Morpher to Zack, remember?"

At that moment everyone else but Tommy burst out in unison, chattering loudly about how they did not have Morphers either. "Guys," Tommy murmured, waiting for them to stop. "Guys," he continued, a bit louder and with a bit more impatience in his voice. "EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" he shouted, his neck hot as silence fell, everyone slowly turning to face him. He sighed heavily, nodding once as he added, "If you guys would listen to me for a second, I have everything under control, and I will be right back."

That having been said, Tommy touched the side of his communicator and disappeared moments later, returning shortly thereafter with an oaken box in hand similar, but noticeably different, from the one that he had used to transport their Power Coins after Trini's funeral.

"Here," he continued, sounding quite exasperated as he set the box on the ground and flipped it open, revealing six silver Power Morphers that glimmered and shone as though they had just been forged.

"How did you—" Billy started, falling silent when Tommy held up his hands.

"Hayley," said Tommy simply, waiting until everyone had taken a Morpher before retrieving the final device, locking his Power Coin into place as he looked around at the others and added, "You guys ready?"

Standing side-by-side, Kimberly and Adam standing to Tommy's right, with Billy, Rocky, and Aisha to his left, they all nodded and gave a chorused reply of, "Ready!"

Tommy nodded. "Then let's do it, guys. It's Morphin' Time!" he called out, thrusting his Morpher outward as he continued, "White Ranger Power!"

"Black Ranger Power!" yelled Adam.

"Pink Ranger Power!" shouted Kimberly.

"Blue Ranger Power!" followed Billy.

"Yellow Ranger Power!" cried Aisha.

"Red Ranger Power!" finished Rocky.

If the feeling of their prior transformations had been incredible, then this one was downright phenomenal. They could literally feel the Power crawling over every inch of their bodies, their suits taking form right before their very eyes. It was unlike anything they had ever felt before, stronger than any power they had touched prior.

"It feels…different," Adam breathed, touching his chest as he looked around at the other Rangers, all of whom nodded their agreement.

"I feel like I can fly!" exclaimed Rocky, taking off on a dead sprint towards the edge of the cliff. Every head turned to watch him go, yelling at him not to do it. Luckily, he stopped himself just short of the edge, turning around and shaking his head at them as he walked back. "Do you guys really think I'm that dumb? My animal's a freaking primate for crying out loud! If I was gonna have a special power, it'd be like super-strength or something like that."

"Yeah, like a super appetite," Aisha grumbled, rolling her eyes beneath her helmet.

Rocky made to snap back, but before he could say anything Kimberly was already speaking. "I don't know about flying, but you're right Adam, it does feel different. I feel more in control now, like I can do things with the Power I couldn't do before."

"Perhaps the Power adjusts itself based on the person that is using it," said Billy, touching the chin of his helmet curiously. When five helmets turned to face him, he knew that he needed to explain further. "We were kids the last time we were active Rangers. Yes, we had incredible power, but was it really _full_ power? Maybe the Power can sense that we're older now, more mature and more knowledgeable as to what we're doing. The Morphing Grid on Aquitar operates in a similar fashion; it wouldn't surprise me if the grid here on Earth was the same."

"Wait, there's a Morphing Grid on Aquitar?" asked Rocky, unable to see yet another Ranger roll their eyes at his expense.

"Of course there's a Morphing Grid on Aquitar, Rocky," answered Billy, shaking his head. "Presumably there's a grid on every planet in the universe; or maybe the grid itself is universal. You actually raise a good point, Rocky, although unintentionally, I presume. I hadn't really thought about the possibility of one Universal Morphing Grid until just now."

Back in high school, Tommy would not have cared if there was one Morphing Grid or three billion of them. Now, however, the possibility of one grid for the entire universe left him chomping at the bit to discuss this topic with Billy even further; not surprising, either, considering that he had spent the last ten years of his life involved with the other Ranger teams in some capacity or another. Still, he knew that this was neither the time nor the place to have that particular discussion.

"One grid or not, it doesn't matter right now," said Tommy, looking around at each of them individually as he continued, "I'm almost positive that Billy is right about the Power adapting to its user; but, like it's always been before, I get the feeling that's just one of those things we'll have to learn with time. Right now, what's important is that we're a team again. Let's show this Jared Grant guy that he picked the wrong Rangers to mess with."

"I hope he grows big," said Rocky, a twinkle in his hidden eyes as he rubbed his gloved hands together greedily. "What?" he exclaimed, as everyone turned to stare at him. "Oh, don't tell me you weren't thinking about the Zords! I was, and I hope he grows big. This guy deserves the emergency button."

Everyone laughed at that, vividly recalling the only other time they had ever used the Ninja Megazord's red button marked for emergencies only; and an emergency it had been, the Megazord on the verge of being destroyed when Aisha had hit the button, sending Ivan Ooze hurtling into Haley's Comet with a vicious knee to the nether regions.

It was a small moment of levity, one that nobody knew when they would get again. There was an invisible cloud hanging over their heads, a cloud that would not wait long to open up and rain hell down on them once more.


	7. Blast From The Past

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter Six - A Blast From The Past**_

_**Original Posting Date: May 10, 2009**_

--

"So, where do we go from here?" questioned Adam, looking around at the other Rangers just moments after they had all powered down on Tommy's command.

Tommy was still grinning from the memory of their Megazord battle with Ivan Ooze as he turned to Adam and said, "Back to our normal lives. The only thing that changes is that we're on call twenty-four-seven now. If there's an attack that has to be our number one priority, regardless of whatever else is going on."

His head inclined at that point, turning slightly to gaze at Kimberly, who immediately looked away with flushed cheeks. Luckily for her, though, she had a best friend who was willing to shift the attention away from the Pink Ranger. Clearing her throat, Aisha interjected, "Um, question," she started, half-raising her hand. "How do we know when there's an attack? I mean, it's not like Zordon and Alpha are still around to let us know when these things happen."

"Yeah, I know," Tommy murmured, shaking his head slowly. "It's not going to be as easy without them, but we'll make do. Hayley and I have been working on a way to trace this Jared Grant guy's energy signature, and we've almost finished. Once we've got that done, keeping an eye on things is going to be a whole lot easier."

"Really?" said Billy, raising a curious eyebrow. "What exactly are you doing?"

Tommy grinned, not surprised that Billy had been the first to express curiosity. "After he attacked each of us, Hayley ran scans on the areas he appeared and ran all the energy signatures into a program we made with some of the data I recovered from the Power Chamber. It seems like it should be easy, since the only signatures that should have spiked were his and ours, but the problem is that his signature never reads the same way twice. That's where we're having the problem. Hayley's a freaking genius, but even she can't figure out this one."

"So, I'm no valedictorian or anything, but is there a reason why you didn't call Billy for help?" asked Rocky, scratching the side of his head. "I seem to remember him being pretty good at that kind of stuff back in the day."

Tommy felt rather stupid almost immediately, slapping his forehead in disbelief as he turned to Billy and said, "I didn't even think about it, man. We could really use the help if you're willing to take a look at it."

"Most definitely," Billy replied, nodding. "Just let me know when and I'd be glad to do it."

With an appreciative nod, Tommy looked around once more and said, "Well, it's getting pretty late. We should probably start heading down now."

Most of the other Rangers turned to leave, but as Tommy followed after Rocky the White Ranger was stopped by an arm extending in front of his chest. "I want to see what's left," said Adam, his voice a near whisper, "Of the Power Chamber."

"Hey, yeah, me too!" added Rocky, stepping up to Adam's side.

Letting out an internal sigh, Tommy shook his head once and replied, "Not tonight, guys, it's way too dark outside. I wouldn't even be able to find the entrance if I tried, but if you really want to see it we can definitely come back. I gotta tell you, though, it's not much to see, and what's left isn't all that pleasant."

"We can handle it, Tommy," said Adam.

Tommy gave a conceding nod. "One day next week, okay? We can just teleport out here and I'll show you guys the way in."

Adam nodded as well. "Alright, that works," he replied. Then he turned to leave, but had barely taken two steps when he felt his legs suddenly give way, immediately taking him down to one knee. The other Rangers were quick to his side, though their efforts were not really needed. One moment Adam was down and the next he was back on his feet, trying to shake the feeling back into his legs. "Damn, my legs feel weird," he commented, bouncing from side to side on the balls of his feet. "They feel looser than normal, kind of springy even; like a Pogo stick."

"That's weird," said Rocky, dismissively.

"Has that ever happened before?" asked Aisha, showing a bit more concern than her husband.

"Nope," said Adam, shaking his head as he continued bouncing back and forth. "It's not unpleasant though, just…_weird_. For some reason I have the strangest urge to jump."

"Jump then," Rocky replied, rolling his eyes.

And so he did, Adam glaring at Rocky as he lowered himself down into a low squat and pushed off as hard as he possibly could from his position with his butt just inches above the ground. The result was surprising to say the least, five sets of eyes turning to the sky in wonder as Adam's body disappeared into the dark of night, his yell growing more and more distant with each passing moment.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Kimberly, looking around in confusion.

"I believe we're about to find out," Billy murmured, somehow knowing exactly where to look as Adam reappeared, his whole body flailing wildly as it plummeted towards the base of the mountain. A loud crash followed moments later, Billy wincing visibly at the sight of Adam sprawled out on the hood of his black SUV. Luckily he sprung back onto his feet rather quickly, giving the Rangers a wave to let them know he was okay. Unbeknownst to Billy, though, was the fact that he was the only one who could see Adam.

"Where'd he go?" asked Rocky.

"The frog just scraped itself from the windshield," Billy answered with a laugh. At the confused expressions he was met with, he added, "Did you not see him land on the hood of his car and jump back onto his feet?"

"Uh, no," said Tommy, shaking his head. "I heard a crash, but that was it. How could you have seen anything in this dark?"

Billy started to answer, but found himself more perplexed then he had been in a very long time. "I-I don't know," he murmured, wondering the same thing as Tommy.

"Okay, this is too weird," said Kimberly. "First me in the mall, now Adam; what the hell is going on with us? The Power was never like this before."

A small smile crossed Tommy's lips at that point, simply because she seemed to be taking a genuine interest in what this life was going to be like for them the second time around. "Billy's right, it's adapting," he muttered, nodding towards the Blue Ranger. "I-I can't help but to wonder…Billy?"

"Hmm?" replied Billy.

But Tommy said nothing, instead throwing a punch right at the side of Billy's head. Billy, however, saw the punch coming even before Tommy had thrown it, effortlessly moving his head while simultaneously seizing Tommy by the wrist, all of this to the awe of the other Rangers, none of whom would have ever imagined Billy being capable of besting Tommy like that.

"I knew it," Tommy muttered, pulling his wrist free. "Adam just jumped like a frog; Billy's got heightened senses, like a wolf; Kim—"

"Did the exact same thing Adam did," Kimberly interjected. "If you're theory is that these things are tied to our animal spirits, why would Adam, a frog, have the same power as me, a crane?"

"Maybe there's more to your ability then you realize," said Tommy, shrugging.

"But then that would mean," said Rocky, his voice trailing off as a gleam appeared in his eyes, causing him to punch the air triumphantly and add, "I knew it!"

With that, he turned around and drove his fist right into the rocky cliff, causing a powerful thud as dust and debris went flying in every direction. When Rocky looked back moments later, his arm was covered from fingertips to shoulder in dull orange dust and a rounded opening had now been created in the cliff behind him.

"Boy, you are such an idiot sometimes," said Aisha, laughing and shaking her head at her husband.

Rocky started to reply, but a soft noise off in the distance made him fall silent, followed seconds later by Adam rushing down on them, landing on one knee and looking up with a subtle grin. "You guys are taking forever," he muttered, pushing himself back onto his feet and adding, "I'm ready to go."

"Alright, then let's—" Tommy began, but before he could finish Adam was already gone, launching himself into another frog leap that carried him back down to the base of the mountain.

Kimberly grinned. "When in Rome," she added, shrugging casually. She then lowered herself to one knee just as she had done in the mall, springing high into the air in an attempt to follow Adam down. This time around, however, the result of her leap was very different than her two prior attempts.

At the peak of her jump she looked towards the ground and found that she was much higher than she had anticipated, even higher than when she had shattered the glass ceiling of the four-story Miami mall. She was now at least fifteen, maybe even twenty stories in the air, and feeling much less comfortable with the fall that awaited her, enough so that she found herself quietly praying that said fall never came. Then, at the moment when she was sure she was about to go plummeting, she stopped moving completely.

Back on the cliff, Tommy was looking around in confusion. "Where'd she go?" he asked, turning to the other Rangers. "She should have started coming down by now."

"No idea," murmured Rocky, Aisha and Billy echoing the Red Ranger's sentiments.

The answer to Tommy's question came rather quickly, though, in the form of Kimberly's scream which echoed deep in the back of head. Next moment a blur of pink whizzed past him, just inches in front of his chest, Tommy's head swiveling to follow the blur as it shot high into the air and then right back down, encircling the four remaining Rangers in a ring of dust that grew larger with each of its revolutions. But, just as quickly as it had appeared, it was then gone, shooting towards the ground below at breakneck speeds.

"She can fly," whispered Tommy, more to himself than the other Rangers, a subconscious smile crossing his face for reasons that he could not readily explain.

"Kimberly's animal spirit is a bird, as is yours, Tommy," said Billy, thinking out loud. "If she can fly, then you should be able to as well."

Aisha and Rocky looked at Tommy with wide eyes, but the White Ranger seemed none too interested in the idea of flying, at least not at this particular moment. It was late, and the last thing he wanted to do right now was attempt to fly, especially since he really did not know how to go about trying such a thing in the first place and had no desire to run the risk in case flight was not something he was capable of. If it was, though, like all things in the Ranger world, it would eventually show itself on its own.

"Maybe," Tommy replied, shrugging. "Now's not the time to find out, though. I think teleporting is good enough for the time being."

That said, he raised his communicator and motioned for the others to do the same. They simultaneously programmed coordinates into the device, and seconds later had disappeared in crackling columns of white, red, blue, and yellow light.

--

In the following days life calmed down tremendously. There were no surprise attacks from Jared Grant and his Dark Soldiers, although the Rangers were all constantly on the ready for something to happen at any given moment. Still, things were so quiet that by the following Monday Kimberly had decided that the time was right for her to return to Florida. She had active powers now, not to mention five teammates who all had the ability to teleport to her on a whim if the situation called for it.

She did not necessarily want to leave Reefside, but her school needed her and there was no way she could really justify staying in California any longer. Everything she needed to be safe was already at her disposal, regardless of where she resided. Returning to Florida was the only logical step at this point.

Tommy had tried to convince her to stay, just as she had known he would, but Kimberly had remained firm, reminding Tommy of the agreement they had made prior to her rejoining the team. In the end he had been forced to concede, but not without a handful of obvious clues that let her know he was hurt by her impending departure.

Truth be told, leaving Tommy behind was going to be the hardest part of going home. In the short time that they had been together it had become apparent to Kimberly that there was still something between them; whether that meant a strong friendship or something more had yet to be seen, and that alone had been the only thing to make her question leaving Reefside. Deep down, she longed to know what remained between she and Tommy; after all, it was pretty much public knowledge that breaking up with him was easily her biggest regret in life.

Still, a few days later she found herself riding shotgun in Tommy's Jeep, her packed bags resting on the back seat as the other Rangers followed behind them in Adam's SUV, a black Grand Cherokee with thin forest green stripes on the side panels. At one point in the drive Kimberly shot a discreet glance at Tommy and saw what she was dreading, the same saddened expression he had been wearing when she had told him that she was returning to Florida.

They had been driving for nearly forty-five minutes and he had yet to say a single word to her since leaving his house. He would occasionally look her way, only to return his eyes to the road just as quickly, still struggling with the reality of the current situation; but for as much as he did not want her to go, he found himself dealing with a very surreal sense of déjà vu. Kimberly was leaving again, and again Tommy was going to have to pretend like it did not tear him up inside.

"I don't want you to be mad at me, Tommy," murmured Kimberly, unable to deal with the silence any longer. Their friendship was only just starting to be rebuilt and another rift between them was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now.

Maneuvering his Jeep onto the exit ramp, Tommy briefly closed his eyes, sighed softly, and said, "I'm not mad at you, Kim. I understand what you're doing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. There's strength in numbers and regardless of the fact that we have our powers back, no matter how great Billy's teleportation grid is, there will eventually come a time where this Jared guy catches one, if not all, of us off-guard. It's simple, Kim; the closer we all are, the harder it is for him to get to us individually, but his odds increase significantly when there's a continent's worth of space separating us."

"I don't disagree with you, Tommy, but this isn't high school anymore," Kimberly replied, leaving Tommy to silently wonder just how many different ways she meant that. "It's just not possible for the six of us to spend every waking moment with each other like we did back then. Even if I stayed in Reefside, it's not like everyone's just going to quit their jobs and move into the same house. One way or another he's going to find a way to get us when we're alone, regardless of where we lived."

Tommy chuckled and, pretending to ignore her last sentence, muttered, "God, could you imagine all of us living in the same house? That'd be one fucked up version of _The Real World._"

Though Kimberly recognized what Tommy was doing—he was, after all, still just as easy to read as he had been in high school—she laughed nonetheless, more than willing to let their conversation slip into a lighter tone. It was a tone that remained for the rest of their drive, another ten minutes or so until they had pulled into a spot in the parking garage of Los Angeles International Airport with the other Rangers right behind them.

In a matter of moments they were both out of the car, Tommy grabbing all of Kimberly's luggage from the backseat except for her backpack which she would be carrying onto the plane. With a duffel bag on each arm and a rolling suitcase that he dragged behind him, Tommy moved towards the back of the Jeep to wait for the others, turned to Kimberly, and said, "Was it really necessary to pack all this stuff for a ten day trip?"

Kimberly laughed and shook her head. "Absolutely not, but I didn't know it was only going to be ten days when I left. Besides, it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Hence, shopping; you never know what you're going to need, so why not have it all?"

Tommy rolled his eyes. "You would say something like that," he teased, shooting a quick look past Kimberly to see Adam walking towards them with Billy, Rocky, and Aisha close behind. He started to say something to the Black Ranger, but just as Tommy had opened his mouth he closed it instantly, cut off by a quick flash of black light that left dozens of the Dark Soldiers standing in between the two groups.

"Two days of quiet…it was bound to happen," muttered Kimberly, very much sarcastically as she dropped her backpack onto the ground and looked to Tommy, who doing the exact same thing. "Let's make this quick," she added, firmly.

A simple nod was Tommy's only recognition of what she had said. Next moment he and Kimberly were running towards the Dark Soldiers, launching into side-by-side front flips that carried them over their assailants and into the ranks of their teammates.

"Nice of you guys to drop in," said Adam, softly, lowering himself into a fighting stance.

"Always a pleasure," said Tommy, looking around at the other Rangers as he continued, "Spread out a bit guys, it's about to get hectic. Let's try not to morph if we don't have to."

Truer words had never been spoken, for just as he had said them the Dark Soldiers made their move, five or six heading for each Ranger while they tried to space themselves out a bit. The Rangers all went in different directions, though a few made points to stay closer to certain teammates: Rocky and Aisha, and Tommy and Kimberly to be specific.

Near the backend of a white Escalade, Adam found himself surrounded on all sides by the Dark Soldiers as they slowly closed in on him. Quick to react, he threw a jumping spin kick that did not connect, but succeeded in causing the Dark Soldiers to backpedal a few paces, giving Adam the necessary room to launch his follow up attack. Unfortunately, the snapping side kick that came moments later went right through the head of its intended target, causing Adam to stagger forward slightly in an attempt to maintain his balance.

Before he had time to react they had turned him into nothing more than a human pinball, Adam's body bouncing wildly in every direction as a result of the many punches and kicks being sent his way. It took less than a minute of this punishment for Adam's legs to give way, the Black Ranger dropping to his knees while the Dark Soldiers made to continue their assault. Adam could feel the blood trickling from his nose, the sharp pain touching every centimeter of his face, but ignored it all to attempt a last ditch escape effort.

Concentrating as hard as he could, he pushed off and launched himself into the air, completely forgetting that they were only on the sixth level of a much taller parking garage. He barely had time to register what was about to happen before his body slammed into the concrete ceiling, Adam howling in pain as he went plummeting back down towards the eagerly awaiting group of Dark Soldiers.

Luckily, though, he never finished the fall. Less than two yards away from the foot soldiers, a pink blur shot alongside him and seized his body tightly, lifting him up so that his feet hung just inches above the Dark Soldiers' outstretched arms. For a brief moment Adam tried to figure out where they were going, only to give up completely when Kimberly's sharp turns, swan dives, and sudden elevations left his stomach with a powerful lurching sensation.

By the grace of the Power it was over fairly quickly, Adam breathing a sigh of relief as Kimberly set him down well away from the Dark Soldiers, alongside the other Rangers, all of whom appeared to be in just as bad of shape as himself. Even Tommy looked like he had been through World War III: his white tee shirt ripped in multiple places, his right eye swollen, and his bottom lip bloodied.

"Where'd they all go?" Adam muttered, looking around at the other Rangers, grimacing in visible pain while gingerly rubbing the small of his back.

"We teleported up a few floors," said Aisha, standing awkwardly on one leg. Her right foot hovered above the ground, broken and already showing signs of swelling. "It's only a matter of time until they find us, though."

"How the hell are we supposed to fight these guys if we can't even touch them?" questioned Rocky, his nose and lip matching the color of his tank top, one of many current misfortunes that had him sounding more than slightly angry.

"I don't—" Tommy started, falling silent when a taunting voice reached his ears.

"_Rangers, Rangers, do not fear; to help you out, that's why I'm here. I've done it before, it's not a surprise; that I've got the answers to help beat these guys. See, they're evil and dark, as bad as a devil; to defeat them you must first put yourself on their level. Find that which you hate most and switch it around; it's the only way to take these Dark Soldiers down. A glimmer of light is all you require; so when met with their blaze, just fight fire with fire. That's all there is to it, you now have the knowledge; as long as it's good these ghosts will be solid."_

Then the voice was gone, leaving five of the Rangers staring back and forth at each other with looks of confusion. Kimberly was the only one who did not look as though she had just been asked a terribly difficult question; in fact, the look on her face was just the opposite, a fact that Tommy picked up on quite quickly.

"What are you thinking?" he questioned, eyeing Kimberly carefully.

"It's Quagmire," murmured Kimberly.

"A quagmire?" said Billy, shaking his head. "That doesn't sound like a word you would use, Kimberly."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Not _a_ quagmire, _the_ Quagmire," she replied, Billy and Tommy's eyes going wide. "This isn't the first time he's done this, either. I know it sounds crazy, but he talked to me in my car a couple days ago the exact same way; no body, just his voice."

"Are you sure?" asked Tommy, Kimberly nodding. Tommy touched his chin, wearing a thoughtful expression as he continued, "That's really weird. I always thought he was just, like, a figment of our imagination, something that only existed on Rita's island."

"It wasn't Rita's island, Tommy," said Billy. "The Island of Illusion was—and I assume still is—merely a very small planet in a dimension so remote that its location was practically impossible to pinpoint. While Quagmire is more than likely restricted to the island in a bodily sense, both he and the island are very much real; as real as any of us."

Tommy started to reply, but was cut off by Adam. "Um, does anyone want to clue the three of us in on what the hell you guys are talking about?" he interjected, gesturing towards himself, Rocky, and Aisha. "Who is Quagmire and how does that little poem help us in the slightest?"

"I don't really know how to describe Quagmire, other than that he's a little man who can teleport and everything he says is done in rhyme," answered Kimberly. "He helped us out a ton when Rita sent us to the Island of Illusion, and if I'm not mistaken, he just told us how to beat the Dark Soldiers."

"How so?" asked Rocky, but before could reply there was another flash of black light followed by the reappearance of the Dark Soldiers some twenty feet away.

All at once the Rangers dropped into fighting stances; at the forefront of the group, Tommy looked back to either side and said, "No fooling around this time." Then, turning back to face the Dark Soldiers, he waved his arms in a circle as the Rangers followed suit, Tommy shouting, "Ninja Ranger Power, now!"

Six blinding flashes of different colored light came next, leaving the Rangers garbed in their ninja robes just in time to stand against the charging Dark Soldiers. As the black-and-grey foot soldiers ran towards them, Kimberly closed her eyes and took a confident step forward, throwing a right hook that slammed right into the face of an approaching soldier.

Moving swiftly to avoid an attack, Tommy spared the briefest of glances in Kimberly's direction and said, "How the hell did you do that?"

Throwing herself into a side flip, Kimberly landed on one knee and took three more Dark Soldiers out with a single leg sweep. She then looked up at Tommy and hastily replied, "These guys are pure evil. All you have to do is be the polar opposite of that. Pick something really positive and just concentrate on it as hard as you possibly can. That's all there is to it."

Tommy nodded, and turned to pass this information on to the other Rangers, but found that they had already heard it for themselves, the Dark Soldiers no longer the impossible foes they had just been. Closing his eyes, Tommy found a memory and held onto it, his eyes snapping back open as a fuzzy sensation washed over him. What he found was surprising to say the least.

He was still in the parking garage, still surrounded by the Rangers and Dark Soldiers, but all the color had gone from the place and its occupants. It was like watching life through the screen of a black-and-white television, only this scene was shrouded by a grey mist that seemed to emanate from nowhere in particular. Awkward as it was, when he started running towards a nearby Dark Soldier, launching himself into a flying kick, he somehow knew the blow would connect this time.

And connect it did, throwing its intended target backwards, right into the tailgate of a distant pickup truck. From there it was easy pickings; relatively speaking, of course. The Dark Soldiers were still much stronger and much faster than any other foot soldier the Rangers had done battle with, but now that the soldiers were no longer invincible it was only a matter of time before the Rangers were able to gain the upper hand.

Some twenty or thirty feet away, Rocky was punching and kicking, blocking the oncoming blows with such ease that it was somewhat startling. He had always been rather quick, but with his upgraded strength his attacks were now nothing short of deadly. Dark Soldier after Dark Soldier attempted to take him down, but each was met with the same result; laid out flat on their backs, staring up at the stone ceiling.

Staring down at them, he beat his fist against his chest in triumph and said, "Don't fuck with the—"

"Rocky, look out!" shouted Aisha, trying desperately to get past the group of Dark Soldiers surrounding her as another of the soldiers came flying at Rocky behind. Even though she was nowhere close to her oblivious husband, she still reached out as though she could somehow help him, her eyes widening in surprise when she realized what she had done.

Her right hand was now glowing with grayish energy; energy that, without warning, shot out of her hand and directly at her husband. Instead of injuring him, though, the energy wrapped around him, forming a bubble that the Dark Soldier slammed into, sliding down to the ground in a collapsed heap.

"Don't fuck with the momma bear," Aisha muttered, whipping around, slamming her elbow directly into the face of a Dark Soldier and dropping the soldier in a single blow.

It did not take very much longer for the Rangers to finish off the remaining Dark Soldiers, which disappeared in a flash of light once they had all been defeated. As soon as they were gone the color reappeared, right around the same time the realization set in that their fight with the Dark Soldiers had earned more than a few spectators. Traffic had stopped completely, lines of empty cars twenty deep on either side, their occupants all gathered around while they stared at the Rangers in awe.

"Uh, guys," Kimberly murmured, moving in a slow circle as she looked at all the people from behind her pink face mask, "I think it's time to teleport up again."

"Yeah," said Tommy, nodding his agreement. Moments later six columns of crackling energy shot through the ceiling, stopping three floors higher. Tommy did a quick look around then turned to the other Rangers and said, "Quick, everybody duck between cars and power down."

They did just that and were back in their street clothes shortly thereafter, each wearing a confused expression as they walked towards each other. Adam, who was looking directly at Tommy, pointed at the White Ranger and said, "Hey, didn't you just have a fat lip?"

"Didn't you just have a bloody nose?" countered Tommy, Adam nodding.

The Rangers continued to look around at each other in disbelief as they moved to reform their ranks, realizing with each passing step that none of them bore even the slightest hint of the injuries they had previously sustained, although their clothes still remained their prior damage. How that was even possible, they did not know.

Well, most of them, anyway.

"I presume the morph acted as a stimulant to the rapid regenerative healing that comes with the Power's protection," interjected Billy, leaving most of the Rangers staring back at him with looks that were even more confused than they had just been. Sighing, Billy shook his head, silently wishing he had Trini there to translate for him as, in a sarcastically slow voice, he added, "When we morphed it made our healing powers faster. Better?"

The others just laughed and nodded, taking a brief moment to simply be thankful for what they had just been given: the knowledge necessary to fight back. Though she hated having to do so, Kimberly was forced to bring their levity to a sudden halt soon thereafter.

"Sorry to break this all up, but I really have to bust ass if I'm going to catch my flight, so I'm gonna run."

"Yeah, come on, I'll help you with your bags," said Tommy, grinning as he added, "If they're still there, of course."

Kimberly, however, took one look at Tommy and shook her head. "You can't go down there looking like that, Tommy; or in the airport, for that matter. You're a walking target for suspicious questions."

"She's right, Tommy," said Aisha, earning herself a quick glare from Tommy that Rocky somehow did not notice.

Rolling his eyes, Tommy turned to Kimberly and said, "Who's gonna carry your wardrobe then? Because we all pretty much look the same, Kim."

"Adam can help me," Kimberly replied, perhaps a bit too quickly. All eyes turned to Adam, whose clothes were in just as bad of shape as Tommy's. Still, she seized him by the wrist and pulled him along, not even bothering to look back or say goodbye.

Tommy stood rooted to the spot, staring at Kimberly's back in disbelief and confusion as she and Adam walked away, the Black Ranger looking back at Tommy with an apologetic expression on his face. When she had disappeared from sight completely, Tommy looked around and quietly asked, "What just happened there?"

Aisha sighed and shook her head slowly. "She couldn't say goodbye, Tommy. She just couldn't say goodbye."

Two floors down and a few minutes later Kimberly was silently cursing herself, still dragging along a very helpless looking Adam, whom she had not said a word to since walking away from the other Rangers. Most of the traffic jam had cleared now that the Power Rangers were no longer around, though a handful of civilians still lingered around the area, all of them waiting in the hopes of catching one more glimpse of their superheroes.

As they approached the back of Tommy's Jeep, Adam saw the four bags lying haphazardly on the ground, turned to look at Kimberly and breathed, "That's a lot of stuff."

Kimberly chuckled slightly. "Don't worry; I don't expect you to carry all of it. Tommy refused to let me carry anything but my backpack!"

"That doesn't surprise me," murmured Adam, flashing Kimberly a knowing smile as they reached her bags.

They stopped briefly to gather up Kimberly's luggage and then immediately started walking again, Adam carrying a heavy duffel bag on each shoulder while Kimberly had her backpack and suitcase. With much fortune they were able to reach a row of elevator doors without drawing any suspicious looks, Adam using the pair of large bags to cover as much of his tattered clothing as was possible. Again, they fell into a lapse of silence, neither saying anything until they were out of the garage with the airport entrance in sight; and again, it was Adam who broke the silence.

"How hard is it to learn guitar?" he asked, practically blurting out his query.

For Kimberly it was a question that seemed to come entirely out of left field, but for Adam it was a question that had truthfully been a long time coming, unbeknownst to any of his friends and teammates both former and current, including the one he was planning on proposing to.

Raising a curious eyebrow in Adam's direction, Kimberly shrugged casually and said, "I don't know, it really depends on the person, I guess. Why do you ask?"

This time it was Adam who shrugged. "I've always wanted to learn an instrument; I just never had the time. Tanya and I have such different schedules that it makes doing stuff together pretty hard most of the time, and I guess I'm looking for more things we can do together, you know what I mean?"

Kimberly nodded as they approached the rear end of a long line of people all waiting to check their bags. "Yeah, I definitely do. I don't play as often as I used to, but if you want to learn I can probably teach you a few things."

Adam grinned. "Yeah, that'd be cool."

"Alright, then," Kimberly replied, smiling as well. "Just call me in a couple of days and we'll set something up."

Adam simply nodded, setting Kimberly's bags down and sprinting off without a word. He returned a few minutes later with a silver push-cart that he placed the luggage onto before looking towards Kimberly. "You okay if I leave you here? The others probably…you know," he murmured, rotating his banded wrist slightly, "But I still have to drive home."

"Oh, yeah, I'm cool now," said Kimberly, with a flippant wave. "Thanks for your help, Adam, I really appreciate it."

"No problem," said Adam, sharing a brief hug with his teammate. They said their goodbyes and Adam turned to leave, but had barely taken three steps when Kimberly called out for him to stop. "Yeah?" he added, turning back around.

Kimberly blushed slightly. "Sorry, but can you do me one more favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Just—" she started, clamping down on her bottom lip, shaking her head as she searched for the proper words. "Just tell Tommy I'm sorry, okay?"

"For what?" questioned Adam, wearing a curious expression.

"Just tell him, please. He'll understand what I mean."

Shrugging, Adam nodded and said, "Alright, I'll tell him. Have a good flight, Kim."

"Thanks," Kimberly replied, waving goodbye, her eyes lingering on Adam for a brief moment before returning to the back of person standing in front of her, in the line that seemed to be going nowhere.

--

The days that followed were fairly normal; or at least as normal as days could be for the Power Rangers. Life with active powers, it seemed, was always a bit different from civilian life, even when they weren't fighting foot soldiers and goofy monsters that seemed to be taken directly from a Saturday morning cartoon. Their senses were more in tune now, and their bodies had already begun to compensate for the long road ahead.

This was evident none more so than on the following Friday morning. Tommy had stayed up grading papers until close to two a.m. the night before, and with just four hours of sleep he woke with more energy and vigor than he had felt in quite some time. The other Rangers were all experiencing similar effects as well, now that they were all at one with the Power again. Even Kimberly, who had been the most hesitant to take up the mantle once more, had to admit that being a Ranger again did come with its fair share of perks.

In the heart of Miami, a pink column of energy had just touched down inside the walls of the Triple Gold Gymnastics Academy. Wearing a pink leotard and a matching University of Miami sweatshirt, Kimberly looked around at her school and grinned.

"God, I love not having to drive to work anymore," she murmured, unable to contain her smile as she imagined the scolding Tommy would have given her if he knew she was teleporting to and from work every day.

Of course, she had not intended for it to be that way, but she had forgotten to set her alarm clock on the night she had returned from Reefside and awoke the following morning just thirty minutes before her academy was to be opened. Teleporting to work that day had been her only logical choice at the time; that it had gone this far was due to only one thing, the simple and undeniable fact that teleporting was a whole heck of a lot more convenient than driving and having to deal with Miami's terrible traffic.

As she went about her usual morning routine—emailing, going over paperwork, and her daily workout—it became apparent that today was to be as regular a day as any other. Mornings were fairly slow, since the majority of her students were high school aged or younger, but she also had a handful of home-schooled and privately tutored kids that came in most mornings for a little extra coaching. That was the case this morning, Kimberly watching like a hawk from her position at the edge of the large blue mat, searching diligently for even the slightest flaw in the different routines that these girls would be using next month in an attempt to earn one of the three highly coveted openings on the American Pan Global Gymnastics team.

This continued on for quite some time, with different kids coming and going until one o'clock arrived, when Kimberly would shut down the school to take a lunch break and prepare for her regular stream of classes that started shortly thereafter. Once the academy had been cleared and the doors locked, Kimberly disappeared back into her office and prepared to teleport home. Next moment she was enveloped in pink light, carrying her off and leaving her in her kitchen at home.

Ten minutes later she had a plate with a turkey sandwich and some potato chips in one hand, and a bottle of water in the other, which she carried into the den at the front of the house. She set her lunch down on the desk a few inches away from a black computer monitor, and prepared to take a seat in the nearby office chair when something caught her attention through the window blinds.

Furrowing her brow, she quickly turned and lifted the blinds to get a better look, her eyes widening in shock at what she saw. There, at the curb in front of her house, was what appeared to be a tall, gray, bipedal lizard with horns and a white mullet. To make matters worse, it was currently power-lifting her care with ease, yelling things that she could not hear due to the window being closed. She quickly remedied that, and found herself being taunted in a thick, Austrian accent that reminded her of another famous bodybuilder.

"Agh, Peenk Ranga, come out, come out, whereva you ahh! Da Lizzinatah is here now, it's time fuh you to meet yuh dooooom!"

"What the hell?" she muttered, silently wondering if she was really seeing what she thought she was seeing.

The loud bang that came just moments after he dropped her car let her know that it was indeed real. Her first instinct was to morph into action, but as she reached for her Power Morpher she stopped short, realizing that Jared Grant was wasting no time in attempting the divide and conquer tactics that Tommy had been so wary of. Raising her communicator to her lips, she initiated a transmission to Tommy and waited for him to answer with baited breath.

It took nearly two minutes, but eventually she heard a throat clear, followed by, "Tommy here."

"Tommy, it's Kim," she hastily replied. "Are you alone?"

Small talk was not something she wanted to deal with right now, especially since they had barely spoken at all following her sudden departure earlier in the week.

"Yeah, I had to ditch my class for a minute, what's up?" said Tommy.

"You're never going to believe this, but the Lizzinator is standing outside my house," Kimberly answered, shaking her head in disbelief. "He was just using my car as a dumbbell, and now he's doing pull-ups on the oak tree in my front yard."

"The Lizzinator?" said Tommy, sounding a bit confused. "But we destroyed him years ago."

Kimberly sighed. "I don't know what to tell you, Tommy, but he's, like, right here, Terminator voice and all."

Tommy could not help but chuckle slightly at that. "Alright, hang tight and I'll round up as many of the others as I can. I ran out of class pretending to be sick, and on my way to the bathroom I passed another teacher who's watching my class so let's try to make this quick, alright?"

"Whatever you say, Mr. Leader Man. I'll see you in a few; Kim out."

She then ended the transmission, watching from inside as the Lizzinator continued working out in her front yard. He had since disconnected the garden hose from the spigot alongside the house, tying it first around her car and then around his own waist, running wind-sprints up and down the street as he dragged the vehicle behind him. After a dozen or so sprints, he stopped in front of the house, ripped the hose in half, and yelled, "Ahright, dat does it! I've had enough of deez silly games! Time to be destroyed, Peenk Ranga!"

No sooner had the words escaped his lips than five beams of multi-colored light touched down in the front yard, revealing the already morphed Power Rangers. As soon as she saw them arrive Kimberly immediately thrust her hand behind her back. "It's Morphin' Time!" she yelled, teleporting outside once she had finished morphing.

"Nice of you to drop by," murmured Rocky, after Kimberly had landed next to him.

"Right back at ya," said Kimberly, lowering herself into a fighting stance.

"Ahh, six against one, I like deez odds!" the Lizzinator bellowed, beating his fists against his armored chest. "Now I get to take you all down!"

Tommy laughed. "Yeah, we'll see about that," he replied, shaking his head. "But before we do that, I want you to meet someone that wasn't around last time!"

That said, Tommy withdrew the saber called Saba from its sheath at his waist and quickly thrust it at the Lizzinator. Saba cut through the air, leaving a whistling trail behind it en route to the Lizzinator's chest. Inches away from its target, Saba flipped itself upside down and shot up high, causing the Lizzinator to lose focus while it watched the saber climb higher and higher, until it had disappeared from sight completely. He continued watching for a few moments, waiting for the sword to come back down from the clouds, but when nothing happened he redirected his attention back to the Rangers.

"Dat's it, I'm tiahd of dis foolishness!" yelled the Lizzinator, stepping towards the Rangers; all of whom, sans Tommy, were looking around in utter confusion. "It's time fuh you to d—"

His sentence was ended with a howling pain as Saba plunged itself into the back of the Lizzinator's head, the monster frantically attempting to remove the saber. Distracted once more, the Lizzinator was unable to see Tommy flip into action, land on one knee behind the Lizzinator, and grab the handle of his sword. With a heavy grunt he withdrew Saba from its implanted position, holding the blade against his shoulder as he stood up and gently tapped the Lizzinator on the shoulder.

When the monster turned around, Tommy grinned beneath his helmet and said, "Pretty cool, huh?"

Next moment the Lizzinator could do nothing other than accept the quick-as-lightning slash that Tommy drew across its chest with Saba, a cloud of smoke and a shower of sparks erupting from the wound as the Lizzinator went flying backwards, right into the awaiting arms of the other Power Rangers who now understood what Tommy had been doing in the beginning.

Unfortunately, the Lizzinator was one of the stronger monsters that they had faced, and once he was no longer distracted it became apparent that nothing had changed. In fact, it seemed as though this incarnation of the Lizzinator was even stronger than the version that Finster had created all those years ago.

The six Rangers attacked from all sides, but realized rather quickly that hand-to-hand combat was not going to be a viable option in this particular battle. Just minutes into their fight they had all been discarded haphazardly on the street, struggling desperately to regain their footing as the Lizzinator's eyes began glowing red.

"Time tuh feel duh buuuurn!" yelled the Lizzinator, shooting a powerful beam of red energy at the center of the Ranger's ranks.

Diving in every direction, the Rangers were just barely able to avoid the blast, though Adam and Aisha both felt slight tingling sensations on their legs as they rolled back onto their feet.

"Oh, you wanna play rough, do you?" questioned Tommy, twirling Saba around cockily, ignoring the saber's plea to be left in one position. "I'll keep him busy," he added, to the other Rangers, "You guys form the Power Blaster and take him out."

"Right!" the Rangers replied in unison.

"Alright, guys," said Kimberly, as Tommy went charging at the Lizzinator. "Let's put 'em together!"

"Power Axe!" bellowed Adam, cocking the trigger on his weapon and throwing it into the air.

"Power Bow!" shouted Kimberly, thrusting her weapon onto the end of Adam's axe.

"Power Daggers!" added Aisha, twirling her daggers before adding them to the blaster, the ends of their grips acting as mini-blasters on either side of the axe.

"Power Lance!" yelled Billy, breaking his weapon into two pieces, adding them to the inside of Aisha's daggers.

"Power Sword!" finished Rocky, leaping into the air, placing his sword at the top of the blaster, the point of the blade facing directly at the Lizzinator as Rocky dropped back to the ground with the fully formed Power Blaster in hand.

For as strong as the Lizzinator was, it was fortunate for the Rangers that the monster was not a very intelligent creation. Most of the Rangers laughed outwardly when they saw what was happening, a dizzied Lizzinator spinning in slow circles as Saba went whipping around and around at breakneck speeds, Tommy watching and laughing from a few feet away with his arms folded across his black-and-gold shield.

"Are you guys just going to stand there watching, or what?" yelled Tommy.

"Right," Rocky muttered, looking to the two Rangers on either side of him as he added, "Let's finish this guy off."

Seconds later five beams of different colored energy erupted from the blaster, heading straight for the stumbling Lizzinator. From his sideline position, Tommy watched in anticipation, waiting until the last possible moment to thrust his hand outward and yell, "Get back!"

On cue Saba changed course and returned to the hand of its owner, right as the five charges slammed into the Lizzinator's chest, dropping it to its knees in a burst of fire, slumping forward and exploding on impact.

"Yeah, nice shot guys!" said Tommy, running to the other Rangers.

As soon as he had rejoined them, however, the sky immediately went black. A flash of lightning came a moment later, slamming into the ground where the Lizzinator had just been, its force throwing the Rangers backwards. Now laid out in the street, the Rangers all clambered back onto their feet just in time to see the Lizzinator grow to epic proportions.

"I was _not_ prepared for that," said Aisha, she and the other Rangers quickly jumping aside as the Lizzinator attempted to squash them with a giant step.

"There's only one thing to do. Let's hope it works!" shouted Tommy, raising his hand to the sky as the other Rangers did the same, all of them yelling, "We need Ninja Zord Power, now," bursts of multi-colored energy shooting from their hands the moment they had said the words.

"Black Frog!"

"Pink Crane!"

"Blue Wolf!"

"Yellow Bear!"

"Red Ape!"

"White Falcon!"

Their anticipation lasted but a brief moment, the sounds of their various Ninja Zords crying out as they arrived on the scene. The Rangers shared a quick round of congratulations as they watched the Zords break apart and reform, shifting around until the fully formed Ninja Megazord stood in the middle of the neighborhood, ready to fight.

"Let's get inside!" ordered Tommy, leaping into the air as the other Rangers followed suit, landing in their familiar chairs inside the Megazord's cockpit. "Alright," he continued, readying himself at the main controls, "I'm not about to destroy an entire neighborhood fighting this guy. We need to take this one somewhere else; Adam, initiate thrusters!"

"Initiating thrusters!" replied Adam, with a confirming nod.

With the flip of a switch the Megazord started to elevate, Tommy pushing on the controls until the giant robot was horizontal, the Falcon Zord's wings stretched out on either side of its back. Then Tommy guided the Megazord forward, flying it right at the Lizzinator, seizing the monster around the waist and carrying it high into the air.

"Put me down you guhly men!" demanded the Lizzinator, beatings his fists against the Megazord's back as it continued flying in search of some open space. "I'm gonna rip yuh heads off and make you scream!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Aisha, shifting in her chair, cocking her fist back as she stared down at the glass box marked _For Emergency Use Only._

"Don't do it, 'Sha," Tommy interjected quickly, shooting her a brief look over the shoulder. "It's for emergencies only and this is not an emergency."

Beneath her helmet Aisha rolled her eyes. "You're no fun," she groaned.

Tommy, however, was more focused on ending this threat, concerned very little with how "fun" he was at the moment. "Kim, the back of the Megazord's taking damage. Activate secondary deflector shields!"

"I'm already on it," Kimberly replied, pressing a series of buttons on the control panel in front of her. The Lizzinator was unprepared for the sudden, but short, electrical charge that came when the extra shields were activated, causing the monster to howl in pain the next time it attempted to punch the Megazord's back.

It was enough to grant Tommy the necessary time to position the Megazord over an empty stretch of beach alongside the Gulf of Mexico, dropping the Lizzinator from nearly two thousand feet in the air. Right as he released the Lizzinator, Tommy repositioned the Megazord so that it was standing vertically once more, then instructed Adam to initiate the thrusters for a second time, the Megazord cutting through the air and heading feet first towards the Lizzinator's chest.

As they plummeted towards the ground it was as though the Megazord was riding the Lizzinator like a skateboard. Realizing what was about to happen, the Lizzinator's eyes started glowing red again, shooting a blast of energy at the Megazord in an attempt to prevent itself from being crushed beneath the weight of the mammoth robot.

Tommy was not about to let that happen, though. With a simple flick of one of the control sticks he brought the Megazord's saber around in a sweeping fashion, slicing the energy blast right down the middle. The Lizzinator attempted to charge another blast, but by then it was too late.

"Make him eat sand," said Adam.

Laughing, Tommy nodded and gave the Megazord one last burst of speed, only adding to the power of the impact when it finally came. To say they were even remotely prepared for it would be a vast overstatement; so powerful was the impact that it left the Megazord knee deep in the sand, a miniature earthquake rattling the nearby Cliffside.

"Alright, let's get it up in the air again," said Tommy, once everything had settled down. For the third time Adam hit the thrusters, but this time it was not an instant response. The Megazord was buried, and it took a few minutes before it was finally able to burst free from the sand, shooting back into the sky. "Time to end this guy for good!" he added. "Shogun Saber!"

On command the Megazord redrew its curved sword, grasping it with both hands and raising it high above its head. "Switching to full power," said Rocky, flipping a switch that caused the saber to start crackling with six different colors of energy.

"Let's do it, Tommy," added Billy.

"Oh yeah," Tommy replied, cracking his neck to either side, his finger hovering over a red button. "Time to take a plunge!"

He pressed the button and with the force of ten thousand men the Megazord threw the energized saber down at the buried Lizzinator. The monster was so deep that the sword disappeared from sight entirely, but the thunderous roar and eruption of fire that followed moments later let the Rangers know that they had finished the job.

In a matter of seconds six beams of light shot out from the top of the Megazord's head, racing across the sky as the Megazord followed suit and took flight on its own accord, the Rangers all oblivious to the woman standing on the edge of a cliff just a few hundred feet away from where the battle had been. She was gorgeous, to say the least, clad scantily in an ensemble of black leather with shimmering green eyes and raven-colored hair that hung to the small of her back.

"You may have won this time, Rangers," she whispered, "but when the time comes for me to make my presence known, rest assured that you will not be so fortunate."

--


	8. Karma's a Bitch

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter Seven**_** - **_**Karma's a Bitch**_

_**Original Posting Date: May 17, 2009**_

--

"For the life of me, I still can't understand why you do this to yourself," said Hayley, shaking her head. She sat at the computer station in Tommy's basement with her back facing Tommy, who had just finished a vicious assault on a nearby punching bag. "She has the same effect on you now that she had when you and I first met."

"It's not her," Tommy lied, through gritted teeth, whirling back around and hitting the heavy bag as hard as he possibly could, causing it to swing wildly while the chain holding it to the ceiling creaked loudly. He then returned his attention to Hayley—who was now giving him _The_ _Look_—and firmly added, "Seriously, it's not her. I've just got a lot on my mind right now, that's all."

Hayley scoffed. "Yeah, like the fact that both women that broke your heart ended up dating your best friend. Come on, Tommy, I know you better than that, so stop pretending like nothing ever bothers you. It's painfully obvious what's going on here."

Rolling his eyes, Tommy yanked off his boxing gloves and tossed them away as he started towards Hayley's chair. "Oh, this one I _have_ to hear," he chuckled, plopping into the seat next to hers. "Why don't you enlighten me?"

"Fine," muttered Hayley, turning away from the energy readings she had just been monitoring to face Tommy. "You feel like you're inadequate, that no matter who you fall for they'll always end up finding someone better than you. That's why you thrive on the battlefield, because out there, you're the absolute best and you know that. Unfortunately, your confidence as a Ranger doesn't always translate to your love life."

Tommy's eyes narrowed at that point, leaving him staring at Hayley in silence for a few moments as he pondered what she had just said. "You-you really think so?" he asked, Hayley nodding her head a single time. "I never wanted to fall for her again," he added, softly, admitting out loud that which he had been ignoring ever since Kimberly had come waltzing back into his life. "The only difference was that this time around it took more than thirty seconds for me to realize that it had happened."

Hayley laughed slightly and said, "Then why let her get away?"

"Because I know that she doesn't feel the same way anymore," said Tommy, closing his eyes for a brief second. "Besides, what does it matter to you? I thought you pretty much hated Kim like the plague."

Hayley shrugged. "I don't hate her, Tommy," she replied. "I just don't really like her; there's a big difference between the two. If I hated her, you guys would have had your big talk in the hospital instead of the café."

"I seriously doubt that," said Tommy, with a laugh. "Kim might be small, but she packs a powerful punch, and not just for her size either. I guarantee if you took a poll of all the Rangers that have served with Kim and asked them which of their teammates they'd least like to fight, they would all say her, including me. I'd fight every single one of the guys all at one time before I got into it with Kim."

Again, Hayley shrugged her shoulders, this time pretending to ignore that Tommy had just flat out told her Kimberly could undoubtedly kick her ass. Had it been any other woman Hayley would have chided Tommy for being a crappy friend, but when it came to Kimberly, she knew that Tommy's thoughts and feelings would forever be biased.

"My point that I don't hate her still stands," said Hayley, shifting her focus back to the computer screens, "I might not like her, but that doesn't change the fact that she makes you stupidly happy, and I think you're being an absolute moron if you just let her go without even trying. I know you, Tommy; you're going to hate yourself for the rest of your life if you don't at least try and to be honest, I really don't want to deal with you being miserable for the rest of _my_ life."

"Oh, thanks," muttered Tommy, rolling his eyes as he rose to his feet. "Look, I'm not going after her. If it happens, it happens, but I'm not just putting myself out there like I did the last time. I've already seen what happens when I do that and it's not very much fun."

Hayley's mouth went wide in disbelief. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" she questioned, Tommy raising a curious eyebrow that forced her to continue, "The longer you pretend like you don't care, the bigger the risk you're taking of losing her for good. You tell her how you feel and one of two things can happen: she feels the same way, or she doesn't. Either way, at least you know where you stand, but if you don't do anything then the only thing that you can ever do is wonder."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Tommy, turning away, wanting to finish this conversation as quickly as he could. "I'm going to go take a shower. I'll be back down in a little while."

"Oh, um, alright then," Hayley replied, with a slight nod, visibly taken aback at the abrupt end to their chat, though Tommy of course could not see that.

Tommy gave a fleeting wave over his shoulder as he hit the wooden staircase, taking the steps two and three at a time until at last he was free, his brain pulsating from all the confusion he now felt. What was he supposed to do? Should he take Hayley's advice, or continue down the path he was currently walking?

Those were questions he did not yet know the answer to, but he was hoping a long hot shower would help him to clear his mind a bit. Ten minutes later, he was hanging his head beneath the shower's hot spray, loud rock music playing from the iPod dock on the counter outside the tub as he ran over the conversation with Hayley in his head.

For the longest time he remained like that, simply thinking, but alas, nothing came. Squeezing a dollop of shampoo into his hand, he tried to clear his mind entirely, but discovered that doing so was just as difficult as finding the answers he so desperately desired. It had been nearly a week since Kimberly's return to Florida and she had rarely escaped his thoughts in that time. In the end, he was left with nothing more than a cluttered mind that had only become further jumbled the more he pondered everything.

Returning to his shower, he was in the process of rinsing the shampoo from his hair when he thought he heard a faint noise coming from outside the bathroom door. Next moment that faint noise became a bombardment of sound as Hayley beat her fists against the door while simultaneously yelling for Tommy to get out.

"I'll be out in a minute!" yelled Tommy, glaring with narrowed eyes at where the door would have been if not for the shower curtain impeding his view, as though expecting Hayley to somehow see his expression of ire.

"No, Tommy, now!" shouted Hayley, continuing to pound the door. "Get your ass out here or I will knock this door down and drag you out myself!"

Rolling his eyes, Tommy grumbled a slew of curse words as he quickly washed out the last bit of shampoo from his hair, turned off the water, wrapped a towel around his waist, and burst out into his bedroom still dripping wet from head to toe. "What?" he questioned demandingly, holding up his arms.

"Oh, I don't know," replied Hayley, impatiently. "I just thought you might be interested in knowing that Adam and Rocky both paged your communicator, which you left in the basement, not that you would have heard it blaring Metallica at twelve billion decibels."

" What's your point?"

"My point, Tommy," muttered Hayley, "is that your teammates are being attacked and you're standing here, half-naked and soaked to the bone."

Tommy's mouth went agape at that. "Well, why the hell didn't you just say that in the first place?" Hayley looked extremely angry, but just as she was about to verbally express that anger, Tommy gave her a quick wink and cut her off, throwing his hand behind his back as he bellowed, "It's Morphin' Time!"

--

Several hours later, following a relatively easy defeat of the forty or so Dark Soldiers that Jared Grant had sent to combat the Rangers, Rocky and Aisha found themselves enjoying a romantic dinner at an upscale steakhouse in downtown Stone Canyon. It was Rocky's birthday and Aisha was throwing him a party at their house the following day, but tonight was their night to celebrate the occasion alone.

To say that Aisha had gone beyond the call of duty would be a vast understatement, seeing as how she had ventured well out of her comfort colors, wearing a strapless red dress that had left Rocky ogling her for all of their drive and most of dinner. As he poked and cut his steak, he could do little more than stare at his wife, enraptured by her undeniable beauty.

"You look amazing," murmured Rocky, for what had to be the tenth time that night.

"Thank you," said Aisha, beaming, accepting the compliment just as graciously as she had the first time. "You look pretty sharp yourself," she added, using the side of her foot to rub Rocky's leg beneath the pearl white tablecloth. "The new haircut's starting to grow on me."

"Yeah?" questioned Rocky, noticeably surprised, especially seeing as how Aisha had all but declared her hatred for the buzz cut he had unexpectedly come home with three days ago.

Aisha grinned. "Yeah," she replied, nodding.

Rocky wore an exaggeratedly proud smile as he tightened the crimson necktie that he wore against a black dress shirt. "I knew you'd eventually like it," he said, with a laugh. "Plus it makes it a whole heck of a lot cooler when we're, you know—" he drifted off, gesturing the shape of a helmet around his head. "I still don't see how you get all those braids in there."

"Neither do I," said Aisha, laughing as well. "That's one of those things about doing what we do that you just can't explain."

"I guess so," said Rocky, shrugging as he returned his attention to the porterhouse steak, loaded baked potato, and Caesar salad plated in front of him.

Picking at a bowl of shrimp scampi, Aisha lazily twirled the pasta onto her fork as she eyed Rocky discreetly. "Can I ask you something, Rocky?"

With a mouthful of food, Rocky held up one finger and started chewing rapidly, aiding the process with a drink of his beer. "Yeah, of course," he answered, wiping his mouth on a cloth napkin. "What's up?"

Aisha sighed. "I'm not sure, to be honest. I just…doing this again…it doesn't feel the same. We're all back together again, but that's about where the similarities end. This isn't high school, Rocky, the bad guys don't wait until school is out to attack and I don't have the luxury of leaving the clinic every single time something happens. I can get away with it for a little while, but eventually people are going to start noticing, and that's when the questions are going to start coming in."

"What are you saying?" asked Rocky, curiously.

"I'm saying that I think it's time for me to seriously consider opening my own clinic," replied Aisha, taking a small bite of shrimp. "Otherwise it won't be very much longer before I'm out of a job."

Rocky seemed to ponder that for a moment as he poked at his salad, raising a forkful of food that he stopped just short of his mouth before slowly lowering his fork to the side of his plate. "I have some money set aside. I was planning on saving up until I had enough to put a nice down payment on a helicopter," he said, sarcastically, "but an aircraft loses its appeal when you can teleport anywhere you want to, so how much do you need?"

"Seriously?" said Aisha, furrowing her brow.

"Yeah," answered Rocky, with a shrug. "What's yours is mine and all that stuff, remember?"

Aisha chuckled. "Well, I appreciate the offer, but it would cost at least two-hundred grand to open my own clinic."

"What's your point?"

"I've got about fifteen-thousand in my savings account, and another ten in a Certificate of Deposit," said Aisha. "Even if I took every penny that you have and every penny that I have, I'm still going to need a pretty big loan."

Rocky shook his head as he took a bite of his salad.

"Not really," he replied, once he had swallowed his food. "My mom worked two jobs and got paid twice a month at both. At the start of every pregnancy she would take fifty dollars a month from each check and set it aside. Then, right before each of us was born, she opened high-interest trust accounts for us that we couldn't touch until we were twenty-two. I had close to eighty-thousand dollars by my twenty-second birthday, and it's only gone up since then. Plus we have our joint account, and I still have my own savings that I started when I went into the military. Now, I can't empty it completely, but trust me when I say I've got enough to get you pretty close to what you need.

With the appearance of being completely caught off guard, Aisha tried to stammer out a reply, but prior to a single word escaping her lips Rocky was already talking again. "Before you say no, just sleep on it for a few days. I don't really want to get into a big talk about finances on my birthday, plus this decision isn't one you should just make on a whim. Take some time, figure out what you want to do, and if you need the money it's there."

Smiling brightly, Aisha reached out across the table and took Rocky's hand, Rocky running his thumb ever so gently across her fingers as she whispered, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, sweetheart," said Rocky, just as their waitress appeared to ask if there was anything else they needed.

It was not long after that when Rocky and Aisha walked out of the restaurant hand-in-hand, stepping onto a stretch of sidewalk that wrapped around the entire city block. The evening air was somewhat chilly, causing Aisha to shiver slightly as they started the short walk to where Rocky had parked around the corner.

"I told you to bring a sweater," Rocky teased, wrapping his arm around Aisha's shoulder, pulling her in close in an attempt to keep her warm.

"Shut up," grumbled Aisha, though she still smiled up at him, her arm slinking around his waist.

The city of Stone Canyon might as well have been called Angel Grove Part Two, their layouts strikingly similar, especially to the young couple that had lived in both places. There were neighborhoods and parks, a gorgeous lake, warehouse and marina districts; everything that Angel Grove had, Stone Canyon had as well, in all of the exact same places. Unfortunately, that also meant a downtown that wasn't always the most pleasant of locales in certain areas.

As they walked around the corner from the restaurant Rocky's new car, while only parked a few hundred feet away, was practically shrouded in darkness, the result of many a shattered street light on this side of the block. Rocky was conscious of keeping Aisha close to him, but his efforts were in vain, for as they passed a darkened alley something reached out and seized Aisha's free wrist, yanking her away from Rocky and into the alley.

"What the—" started Rocky, falling silent and springing into action as soon as he heard Aisha scream. He turned and ran into the lightless alley, only to be blindsided and slammed back-first into the side of a brick building. A howl of pain came next moment, but it was quickly silenced as a hand clamped over Rocky's mouth, followed by the unmistakable glimmer of a steel gun barrel being pointed in his face.

"Say anything, or even try to make a noise, and I'll kill you where you stand, you got that?" said a deep, husky voice, from a figure whose face Rocky could not see.

With his back feeling as though it was on fire, Rocky nodded his understanding and spared a brief look at Aisha, who appeared to be paralyzed with fear as she craned her neck just enough to make eye contact with her husband. She, too, had a gun being trained on her, held by a second assailant who had yet to utter a word.

"Good," said the armed man. "Now empty your pockets: jewelry, cash, anything valuable; and don't hold nothing back or—" he added, cocking the hammer on his gun to finish his thought.

Rocky obeyed in silence, slowly reaching for his wallet in his back pocket. He then extended the wallet to the gunman, but Rocky maintained a tight grip on the billfold during the attempted exchange, sneering at the shadows where the man's face would be.

"You know what?" murmured Rocky. "I think I have a better idea."

The next sound was a loud _crack_, caused by Rocky head butting the gunman as hard as he possibly could, more than enough to free him from the grip that had just had him pinned against the building. In fact, with Rocky's enhanced strength he sent the man flying clear across the alley and into the building on the opposite side. Then Aisha followed suit, quickly driving the toe of her high heel into the groin of the one holding her back, long before he had time to realize what was happening.

"Let's get some light, 'Sha," said Rocky, hastily.

"Already on it," replied Aisha, now holding her Power Coin, summoning a yellow glow that she then cast across the alley, systematically revealing their attackers. The one Rocky had hit was slumped against the base of the building, fluttering in and out of consciousness, while the man that Aisha kicked had been dropped to both knees, clutching his stomach while coughing up violent spurts of blood.

Taking a few steps forward, Rocky grabbed Aisha's attacker by his shirt collar and tried to toss him into his partner. Instead, though, Rocky felt his back being flooded by another wave of incredibly sharp pain, causing him to growl loudly as he released the man in favor of clutching at his injured back.

"Son of a bitch!" hissed Rocky, forced to watch on helplessly from his slouched position as Aisha stepped forward to help. She kicked her assailant once more, this time in the face, and then dragged his now unconscious body over to his partner, laying them one on top of the other. With a flippant wave of her hand she left them surrounded by a bubble of impenetrable yellow energy, and as soon as that had happened she turned around and rushed to Rocky's side.

Rocky was now standing against the building he had been thrown into, resting his forehead on the arm separating his face from the wall, his other hand still holding the small of his back. Gingerly, Aisha moved his hand from his back and replaced it with her own, rubbing gentle circles as she whispered, "What happened, baby? Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Rocky muttered, grimacing. "I tried to throw him and my back just flared. It feels like a million little needles just poking at my back."

"Well, let's get you home so you can put the heating pad on it," said Aisha, guiding Rocky's arm around her shoulder as she supported him at the waist, leading him away from the alley.

She had to help him into the passenger seat once they had reached his car, nothing more than a newer version of the same SUV that he had had prior to it being blown up at the hands of Jared Grant. Aisha was also forced to drive, not that she minded. It gave her something to help keep her mind occupied so that she was not a nervous wreck over Rocky's safety.

It was nearly twenty minutes later that they pulled into their driveway in one of Stone Canyon's upper-middle class neighborhoods. Their home was an immaculately kept two-story on twenty-five hundred square feet that sat on a hill overlooking the lake and, once inside, Aisha immediately took Rocky to the couch in the living room, too afraid to test his back on the stairs that led to their bedroom. Within a few minutes she had procured the heating pad and slid it beneath Rocky's shirt, which was now un-tucked and only half-buttoned, his tie long since discarded on the floor.

For the moment Aisha was content to make her husband as comfortable as he could possibly be, but as soon as that was done she sat down on the coffee table next to him, looking at him with an expression of clear concern.

"Aisha—" started Rocky, going quiet when Aisha raised her hand.

"Don't," murmured Aisha, shaking her head. "Just let me say what I have to say, okay?"

Sighing, Rocky nodded and said, "Okay."

Smiling gratefully, Aisha reached out and took Rocky's hand. "It's pretty simple, Rocky," she spoke softly, stroking his knuckles. "Even Superman has a weakness. It just…it scares me to think of how badly you could injure yourself. You already have back problems; one wrong move and you could end up paralyzed."

"I know you're concerned, 'Sha, but that's not going to happen. It's just a little sore now, I swear," said Rocky, grinning impishly as he pulled her towards him. He then released his hold on her hand and opened his arms; embracing her warmly, rubbing his hand up and down her back as he whispered in her ear, "Wanna be this ape's vet for the night?"

Aisha stifled a giggle, nuzzling Rocky's neck as she replied, "Boy, you are so corny."

"Yeah," said Rocky, demonstrating how much better his back was feeling by swooping her into a sitting position on his lap with one quick movement, "but you know you like it."

Rolling her eyes, Aisha simply laughed and shook her head as she leaned down to meet her husband's lips, capturing them in a passionate kiss.

--

As great as it felt to be an active Ranger again, Adam was hard pressed to recall a time in his life where he had ever been as unhappy as he currently was. Exactly how long it had been he had long since lost count, but once again Adam was home alone, hating more and more the fact that Tanya's return to California was still months away.

Seated on his living room couch a few nights later, watching an old Kung Fu movie with a plate of three day old pizza resting on his lap, Adam found his mind lazily drifting off just as it had done so many times since Tanya's departure. Since he was not the type to stray in a relationship, he knew that he desperately needed to find something to keep himself occupied while she was gone, but what?

He already devoted so much of his life to karate both in teaching and with the Rangers, that he did not even want to think about the sport when he was at home. Then something hit him, something so prominent in his thoughts that it made him bolt onto his feet, thereby flipping his plate off his lap and onto the carpet. He did not even bother to pick up the fallen pizza, instead leaping over the couch and running into the kitchen, yanking open drawer after drawer in search of a pen and something to write on.

"Aha!" he exclaimed, victoriously, upon finding the necessary utensils.

As soon as he had them in hand he began a mad dash to scribble his thoughts down, writing down a variety of words and phrases, scratching some of them out and replacing them as different ideas came to him. For nearly fifteen minutes he just stood there bent over the kitchen counter, his pen whizzing across one page, and then another, and then another, writing until his hand started to throb, feeling as though it would fall off if he tried to form so much as one more letter. He then dropped the pen and took a step back, interlocking his fingers behind his head and taking a series of deep breaths, as if having just completed some great showing of strength.

Feeling more exhilarated then he had in quite some time, he hastily grabbed the pieces of paper and ran back towards the living room, jumping over the couch once more, this time plopping down on his back. Moments later—after picking up the dropped pizza—he was reading all that he had written, wearing a smile that steadily grew larger as he read on further; but as soon as he was done, reality set in. He had all these written thoughts that he was so sure were utterly amazing, but at the same time he could do nothing with them.

It seemed, however, that today was to be a day of inspiration for the Black Ranger. A slightly stunned look crossed his face as he sat upright, shaking his head and wondering why he had not thought of it earlier. Raising his communicator to his lips, he pressed a series of buttons and sent out a signal to one of his teammates. Not two seconds later he heard a brief crackle of static, followed by a reply of, "Kim here."

"Hey, Kim, it's Adam," he spoke, breathing an internal sigh of relief that she had answered.

"Hey, Adam, what's up?"

"Not much," murmured Adam, smiling as he re-read his nearby notes. "Listen, I know it's a bit late over there," he continued, the clock on his DVD player reading seven o'clock, "but do you think I could get that guitar lesson we talked about the other day?"

"Tonight?" said Kimberly, sounding a bit surprised.

Adam winced slightly, realizing that he had probably caught her at a bad time. "Well, I was hoping…I mean, if you can't tonight its cool, I understand," he stammered, his words coming in rapid succession. "We can just do it some other time, no big deal."

"No, no, no, tonight is totally fine," replied Kimberly, reassuringly. "I just wasn't expecting it, that's all. Give me, like, ten minutes and then come over."

Inside, Adam's spirit gave a loud cheer as he said, "Alright, cool, I'll see you in a few then."

"Okay," said Kimberly, "See you then; Kim out."

"Yes!" exclaimed Adam, once the transmission had ended, jumping onto his feet and running towards the staircase, up and into the walk-in closet in the bedroom that he shared with Tanya.

Grabbing a hooded black sweatshirt from one of the racks, he yanked it on and then retrieved a matching baseball cap from a nearby shelf, jamming it onto his head as he bolted back into the bedroom. Plucking his wallet and cell phone from his nightstand next to the bed, he stuffed them into his pockets and then returned to the living room couch, staring at the clock on the DVD player like a child staring at his presents on Christmas morning, waiting for their parents to give the okay to open them.

When ten minutes finally struck he stood up and started to initiate a teleport, but thought better of it and instead sent another transmission to Kimberly, just to make sure that it was safe for him to come. Seconds after she had given him confirmation his body was replaced by a column of crackling black energy that shot up and out of the house, racing across the night sky until it touched down in the kitchen of Kimberly's Miami home less than a minute later.

Having never actually been here before, it took Adam a few moments of looking around to get acclimated with the place. By the looks of it he was in some kind of den/trophy room combination; one half of the room was set up like a standard office, with a desk, computer, and a bookshelf filled to maximum capacity, while the other half was barren except for the walls, which contained shelf after shelf of Kimberly's many trophies and medals, as well as a variety of newspaper clippings, most of which had been sorted into framed collages.

Adam had intended to go straight out and announce his presence to Kimberly, but instead found himself admiring her achievements in disbelief. There were more medals and trophies than he could ever count, most of them of the gold variety, and headline after bolded headline declaring Kimberly everything from "The next Mary Lou Retton," to "Undoubtedly the very best gymnast of our age."

"Wow," murmured Adam, peering in close at one of the newspaper collages. There, at the very center, was a colored photograph of Kimberly on the cover of _Sports Illustrated_, her three Olympic gold medals draped around her neck.

"Find something you're interested in?" said Kimberly, causing Adam to whirl around in surprise. She was leaning in the doorjamb with a grin on her face, wearing a pair of grey sweats and a pink sweatshirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Adam sent a smile her way as she started across the room to where he stood. "Pretty much everything here," he replied, with a chuckle, shaking his head. "I mean, I knew you were good, but I had no idea you were _this _good."

Kimberly shrugged, trying her hardest not to blush. "I guess I was okay in my day."

"Okay?" said Adam, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, Kim; you're, like, the best gymnast in the history of gymnasts."

"Oh, I don't know about all that," said Kimberly, turning away, motioning over her shoulder for Adam to follow. As they exited the trophy room and entered a spacious hallway, heading towards a nearby staircase, she looked back at him and added, "So you really want to learn the guitar, huh?"

Adam nodded and said, "Yeah, I do. I always wanted to learn when I was a kid, but my mom made me take piano lessons instead. Then I found karate and didn't ever think about the guitar again until just recently."

"You played piano?" said Kimberly, Adam nodding once more. "I didn't know that. I assume you know the general notes then, how to read music and all that stuff, right?"

"Yep," replied Adam, descending the staircase behind her. "I haven't had to do it in a while though, so I might be a little rusty."

"No worries, you're already a step ahead of the game," said Kimberly, waving his comment off dismissively as she led him towards the living room, where two acoustic guitars sat resting against a black leather couch. "I didn't have a clue about any of that when I started trying to learn the guitar. At least you have a general idea of what's going on, which is going to make this so much easier."

As they entered the living room, Kimberly beckoned Adam towards the couch and added, "I'm just going to go grab something to drink real quick. Do you want anything?"

"Just some water is cool," answered Adam, Kimberly nodding as she turned for the adjacent kitchen.

Adam then proceeded to take a seat on the couch, grabbing one of the guitars and holding it on his lap in what he was pretty sure was at least a semi-correct form. Using a penny that he dug out from one of his pockets, he started picking aimlessly at the guitar strings, unsure as to what it was that he was actually doing. Without really intending to he started moving his fingers up and down the neck of the guitar, listening intently to the different sounds each finger position made.

"Heads up, karate boy!" said Kimberly, waiting until Adam had turned around to toss him a cold bottle of water. With a glass of red wine in hand, she made her way over to the couch and took the seat next to Adam; setting her glass down on the coffee table, she turned to him and added, "Ready to get started?"

"Definitely," said Adam, grinning and nodding.

"Alright then, let's do it," replied Kimberly, hoisting the other guitar onto her lap. "Okay, first we'll start with some basics…"

And so they did, beginning what was to be the first of many lessons still to come. That this lesson had to end before it had barely gotten started, however, was merely a matter of misfortune and terrible timing. They were no more than thirty minutes into the practice of some simple notes when their communicators went off simultaneously, causing the pair to immediately look towards each other and roll their eyes in unison.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" said Adam, shaking his head as he set the guitar down. "Right when I was starting to kind of get the hang of it, too."

Kimberly nodded, sighed softly, and replied, "Well, there's nothing left to it but to do it." She then raised her wrist to her lips, pressed one of the buttons on the side of her communicator and said, "What is it this time?"

"You're never going to believe this," said Tommy, sounding as though he, himself, did not believe what he was about to say, "But fully-grown Goldar and Scorpina just showed up in downtown Ocean Bluff."

"What?" said Kimberly, in disbelief, "First the Lizzinator and now this. What is this, the freaking Twilight Zone?"

Tommy chuckled slightly. "Yeah, tell me about it. Listen, the others are already on their way to my place so get here soon, okay?"

"Yeah, on my way," said Kimberly, ending the transmission. Standing up, she turned to Adam and murmured, "Let's do this."

Nodding, Adam rose to his feet and began inputting coordinates into his communicator as Kimberly did the same across from him. Adam, however, was just a hair quicker than Kimberly to teleport, his body being enveloped in black energy just as a hand reached out, seemingly from thin air, and seized Kimberly by the wrist before she could finish the sequence.

On the other side of the country, a crackling column of black light touched down in Tommy's basement, Adam instinctively looking over his shoulder to insure that Kimberly had arrived, but the beam of pink never came. Furrowing his brow, he turned around and set his sights on Hayley and the other Rangers gathered near the main computers.

"Where's Kim?" said Adam, as he walked towards them.

"She's on her way," replied Tommy, sparing a brief look at Adam from his position hunched over the computer.

"No, she's not," said Adam, firmly, immediately garnering Tommy's full attention, as well as the attention of the other three Rangers. "I was at her house when you paged us. Rocky," he added, pointing an accusatory finger at his best friend, "Before you say anything stupid, she was giving me a guitar lesson."

"Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?" questioned Rocky, jokingly.

Adam rolled his eyes. "You're an ass," he muttered, returning his attention to Tommy. "Anyway, like I was saying, I was with Kim when you paged us; we both teleported here at the exact same time. I mean, I watched her do it."

Rocky sniggered in the background, earning himself a punch to the ribs from his wife as a result. Tommy, on the other hand, was nowhere near concerned with Rocky's veiled attempts at toilet humor. Instead, he wore a look that expressed both fear and concern as he raised his communicator and sent out another transmission to Kimberly.

"Kim, it's Tommy, come in," he spoke, continuing when she had not replied after nearly thirty seconds. "Kim, it's Tommy, do you read me?"

"I wonder what could have happened to her," mused Billy, aloud.

"Whatever it is," said Tommy, his expression even graver than before, "It can't be good. We don't have time to worry about it right now, though," he continued, turning to Hayley and adding, "Run full scans on every square inch of this planet. Hell, run full scans on _every_ planet if you have to, just find Kim."

Already seated at the keyboard, Hayley looked up at Tommy and murmured, "Don't worry, I will. You guys just get out there and take care of business."

"Oh, we will," said Aisha, confidently. "I can't wait to get my hands on Scorpina again. I owe that bitch big time from high school."

Tommy nodded. "You'll get that chance," he replied, looking to each of the Rangers individually as he said, "Let's do it guys. It's Morphin' Time!"

In a minute's time they were fully morphed and en route to Ocean Bluff, yet another coastal Southern California town cut from the Angel Grove mold. They arrived amidst panic, landing in front of a row of small shops as Goldar and Scorpina took step after giant step towards the Rangers. Immediately, Tommy prepared to summon the Zords, but as he started to do so a running figure skidded to a stop before them. It was a bearded, long haired man, wearing baggy cargo pants and a long sleeved, grey-and-black striped shirt, breathing heavily as he held up his hands.

"Keep my shop safe and it's free pizza for life," said the man, making a series of odd hand movements as he spoke.

Looking over his shoulder, Tommy saw the pizzeria called Jungle Karma and turned back around to reply, but before he could say a word Rocky had burst to the forefront of the group.

"We're on it," said Rocky, hastily, pushing the man out of the way, raising his arm to the sky and yelling, "We need Ninja Zord Power, now!"

With Kimberly out of commission they were unable to form the Megazord, so the Rangers were forced to rely on the strength of their individual Zords for this particular battle. The first to arrive on the scene was Billy's wolf, and as soon as Billy was in the cockpit the wolf made a diving lunge at Goldar, using its mouth to latch onto the winged Titan's arm.

Tommy's falcon came next, folding its wings and firing a series of rockets aimed at both Goldar and Scorpina. At the last possible moment Billy released the wolf's hold on Goldar, leaping away just in time to avoid the impact of the rockets, which left the two giants staggering backwards amidst smoke and flames.

"Thanks for the heads up there, Tommy," muttered Billy, sarcastically.

"Nah, I knew you'd see them coming," said Tommy, with a chuckle.

"You guys can joke all you want," interjected Aisha, "But I'm about to take a bitch out."

That said the yellow Bear Zord started a lumbering charge towards the vastly bigger Scorpina, driving its head into the scorpion woman's gilded legs. Scorpina gave yet another exaggerated stagger, this time toppling backwards onto a row of parked cars.

"This is too easy," said Tommy, sounding a bit concerned as he continued, "Something doesn't feel right. Let's end this now and get out of here as soon as possible."

"I'm on it," replied Adam, the tongue of his Frog Zord shooting out of the Zord's mouth, wrapping itself around Goldar's neck with an electrical charge that left Goldar convulsing violently as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"Finish them off, Rocky," said Tommy, as Scorpina pushed herself into a standing position.

"Watch and learn, baby," chuckled Rocky, his Ape Zord cockily twirling its twin ninjatō.

Running down the street, the Ape Zord leapt into the air and started a slow mid-air spin, slashing its blades to either side as the Zord flew well past Goldar and Scorpina. Landing on one knee, the Zord turned its body just enough to see long slash marks on both attackers, extending from the right shoulder to the left hip, glowing a vibrant shade of red. Then, without warning, the pair of giants disappeared with an audible _poof,_ leaving nothing in their wake sans two clouds of heavy black smoke.

"They weren't real," said Tommy, almost instantly, his Falcon Zord hovering lazily amongst the smoke. "Goldar and Scorpina would have never gone down that easily. Jared Grant wanted us distracted, and he wanted it that way so he could get Kimberly alone."

Though not entirely correct in his assumption, he was certainly on the right track.

--

Where she was, Kimberly had no idea, nor did she have even the slightest clue as to how she had gotten there to begin with. As she had attempted to teleport with Adam she had felt the hand grasp her wrist firmly, then yank her backwards into what felt like the inside of a vacuum hose stuck in a pond; wet suction, to say the least. Everything went black after that, staying that way for what seemed like hours, until at last she was deposited on her butt—completely dry—in what at first appeared to be an open meadow filled with luscious green grass.

It had taken all of ten second for that scenario to change, leaving her in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by hungry sharks with no visible means of escape, for she attempted to swim and immediately found that she could not. Falling short of breath, she could do nothing more than flail about wildly in the water, only further attracting the sharks to their impending meal.

She was positive that she was going to die—painfully—at that point, but just as the sharks got to within striking distance the scene around her changed once more. This time she was freefalling from some fifteen-thousand feet in the air, wet and with no parachute to slow her rapid descent to the city streets below. Again, though, a mere moment from certain death she was whisked away, this time left holding a metal umbrella in the middle of a lightning storm.

Over and over again she was placed in situations that should have left her dead, only to be continuously saved from her ultimate end at the last possible second. The final scenario had seen her tied to a wooden post with a twelve-man firing squad aiming rifles directly at her. Right before the bullets had pierced her flesh she was gone. Though she had no watch or cell phone to tell time, in her estimation that had been nearly thirty minutes ago, and she had been in her current position ever since.

"If I only knew where that was," she murmured, shaking her head.

She was seated cross-legged on a cold concrete floor, with only a dim light bulb casting its faint glow from nearly fifty feet above her head. The bars surrounding her reminded Kimberly of Rita Repulsa's Dark Dimension, only this one was much, much darker. Beyond the cell, she could barely make out the faint shapes of her Power Morpher and wrist communicator resting atop a stone pedestal roughly twenty feet away.

She had already tried going to Ninja Ranger mode as well, multiple times in fact, but that had failed with a simple crackle of pink energy that disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Out of options, she was forced to resign herself to the fact that whatever happened next was beyond her realm of control. She was now at the mercy of two potential parties: whoever had her trapped, and the Rangers who were most certainly doing their best to locate her.

Then, before she knew what hit her, everything was changing again. She was falling, and the second that her feet touched ground the blackness surrounding her was immediately replaced by blinding light, followed a moment later by the loud blare of a very powerful horn.

"Shit," said Kimberly, just diving out of the way of the oncoming semi-truck.

It took every ounce of graceful agility she had to avoid the heavy rush of traffic heading right at her, but somehow she was able to make her way to the safety of the sidewalk. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, she slowly pushed herself back onto her feet and turned around to find that the traffic in Times Square had suddenly been stopped in all directions.

"What the—" she muttered, drifting off as a shadowy figure started stalking towards her.

As the figure grew closer the shadows disappeared, revealing a strikingly beautiful woman clad scantily in black leather, her raven colored hair flowing dramatically behind her. In the middle of the street the woman suddenly stopped, extending her arms to both sides, in turn causing the surrounding cars to elevate and rotate so that their front bumpers pointed towards the sky. She then clenched her fists tightly, the cars immediately crushing themselves as their occupants screamed violently.

"Stop it!" yelled Kimberly, unable to bear what she was seeing and hearing.

"But why?" said the woman, with a wicked laugh. "Killing people is so much fun."

That being said, she snapped her fingers and created a loud _bang!_ Kimberly watched on in horror as the woman's actions rendered the vehicles and everyone inside them to nothing more than common dust. Everything around Kimberly went red at that point, her self-control flooding away from her as she let out a screeching battle cry and charged the murderous woman.

"Oooh, this should be fun," muttered the woman, rubbing her gloved hands together greedily as Kimberly approached, thrusting her right hand out and throwing Kimberly backwards long before the Pink Ranger could get within striking distance. Kimberly's body slammed back-first into a distant building, the Pink Ranger crying out in pain as she felt herself start to slide down the building, only to be yanked back to where she had started at breakneck speeds. A second later her body stopped, extended horizontally as she helplessly stared up at her grinning attacker.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, Pink Ranger," she added, sneering as Kimberly's body dropped to the pavement with a thud.

Groaning audibly, Kimberly somehow found the strength to lazily stagger back onto her feet, wiping blood from her mouth—completely unaware of the large cut on her forehead—as she looked at the woman and said, "You must be so proud of yourself, killing a bunch of civilians and attacking me without my powers. _I_ have no idea what I'm dealing with? Please, you have no idea what a cowardly bitch you are."

The woman just looked at Kimberly and laughed uncaringly. "Cowardly?" she repeated, Kimberly nodding. "I'll show you how cowardly I am. I took you to the brink of death countless times, and why? To prove to you that if I wanted to I could kill you like _that!_" she continued, snapping her fingers once more, causing the Virgin Megastore to explode without warning. "You want to fight me with your precious little powers? Fine," she added, tossing Kimberly her Power Morpher, "allow me to show you just how little they matter against the strength of Karma."

"Karma, huh?" said Kimberly, with a bitter chuckle. "That's cute."

"You'll soon learn to appreciate the name," replied Karma, her upper lip twitching ever so slightly as she prepared for the impending fight.

"You'll soon learn to appreciate my foot up your ass," countered Kimberly, throwing her hand behind her back as she shouted, "It's Morphin' Time!"

Kimberly felt her body launch itself into a graceful, soaring back flip as the power washed over her in a burst of pink energy, fully morphed by the time she had landed on her feet just a few short seconds later.

"Power Bow!" yelled Kimberly, summoning her personal weapon as soon as her feet had touched ground. It took less than a second for her to load an arrow and fire it at the woman called Karma, who was just barely able to dive away and avoid Kimberly's expert aim.

"Impressive," said Karma, pushing back onto her feet. "Now it's my turn."

Before she could actually do anything, though, four thin beams of different colored energy came rushing at her from every direction. With nowhere to run she was forced to take the blasts, which caused billows of smoke and showers of sparks to erupt from her body as she fell to her knees. Next moment the sole of a white boot slammed into her face, dropping her onto her back in a motionless heap.

"Nice of you guys to finally show up," said Kimberly, looking around at the other Rangers as they moved to regroup, all but Tommy holstering their red-and-white Blade Blasters. Kimberly, on the other hand, just kept walking until she stood over Karma, looking down into a pair of green, glazed over eyes. "You know what the funny thing about karma is?" she questioned, drawing back another arrow from point blank range as she continued, "It's a real bitch."

When Karma suddenly winked it forced Kimberly to hesitate for a brief moment, granting the woman the time necessary to disappear from sight completely just as Kimberly had recovered and fired, the tip of the arrow plunging itself harmlessly into the street.

"Dammit!" yelled Kimberly, cursing herself for allowing Karma to get away. Slowly turning around, she faced the other Rangers and felt her legs immediately give way, taking her down to her knees as tears filled her hidden eyes.

"Crap," muttered Tommy, rushing towards her as the rest of the Rangers quickly followed behind him. He lowered himself to eye level with Kimberly as soon as he had reached her side, placing his hand on the small of her back as he quietly asked, "What's wrong, Kim?"

Kimberly's body gave a tremendous shudder as she forced herself to sit on her haunches with her back straight, taking a series of deep breaths in an attempt to calm her shattered nerves. "She just…dozens…hundreds maybe…killed them…all of them…just killed them for no reason," she managed, in between sobs, shaking her head as she pressed on, "I-I didn't know what to do…I couldn't stop her…oh God, all those people."

Everything went silent at that point, the Rangers all hanging their heads and closing their eyes for a brief moment. It was all the mourning they would allow themselves for the ones they could not save.

The leader in Tommy kicked in shortly thereafter as he gently guided Kimberly back to her feet and said, "We do the best we can, Kim, and that's what you did. I know you want to, but you can't go beating yourself up over this."

Beneath her helmet Kimberly rolled her tear-stained eyes. "How did you guys find me, anyway?" she questioned, in no way wanting to have that particular conversation with Tommy, of all people, the man who hardly flinched at death.

"We spent nearly an hour searching for you," answered Billy, "but we just could not seem to locate your energy signal. There was a brief moment where something spiked, but it was so far off the grid that we did not have sufficient time to pinpoint its location."

"That was probably me trying to use my Ninja Powers," interjected Kimberly. "Karma had me in some—"

"Karma?" questioned Adam, curiously.

"The bitch that did this, her name is Karma," said Kimberly, hastily. "Like I was saying, she was holding me in a cell for a while and I tried to use my Ninja Powers to get out since she had taken my Morpher and communicator, but I couldn't even get my robes to come. She must have been keeping me in some hidden dimension that prevented my powers from working."

Billy stroked the chin of his helmet and replied, "That's most definitely a possibility, though it does raise a couple of questions. Why, then, would she bring you back into the open? Not only that, but why give you your Morpher? Certainly she must have known that its activation would undoubtedly allow us to locate you."

Kimberly shrugged. "This Karma chick doesn't care about death; it's like some sick game to her. She killed all those people without even blinking an eye. On top of that, she kept putting me in all of these crazy, near death situations and saving me right before I got killed. I don't know if she knew about the Morpher spiking my signal, all I know is that the thought of killing a fully morphed Power Ranger had to have seemed like the ultimate challenge to her, because her eyes glimmered when she saw me morph. It was way creepy."

All at once it seemed like the other Rangers were about to burst with questions, but Tommy spoke over them before a single word could be uttered. "Let's get back to my house so we can talk in private, alright."

"Good idea," said Aisha, nodding.

Moments later the Rangers were teleporting, proceeding to de-morph once they had arrived in Tommy's basement, where Hayley was already waiting for them, seated in her chair near the computers. As they took up seats around the room, Tommy remained standing and paced amongst them, his expression one of deep thought.

"What happened at your house?" questioned Tommy, out of nowhere, whirling around to face Kimberly, who was sharing a couch with Adam and Billy. "Adam said that you guys teleported at the exact same time."

"Two people rarely ever do _anything_ at the exact same time, Tommy," said Hayley, matter-of-factly, adding, "Simple physics just doesn't allow it."

"Incorrect," interjected Billy, with a dismissive wave, "But that's beside the point," he continued, leaving Hayley looking stunned as he turned to Kimberly and added, "How was this Karma woman able to capture you?"

Kimberly sighed. "I don't really know, to be honest. It all happened so fast," she murmured, shaking her head. "I was literally, like, a split-second away from teleporting. I saw Adam's teleportation beam and then the next thing I knew I was being yanked into some kind of vortex or something. At least, I think that's what it was. Like I said, it all happened pretty fast."

Tommy nodded and continued pacing for a few moments, then grabbed a chair and wheeled it around, sitting on it reverse-style, resting his arms on top of the chair and his chin on top of his arms. "If she can just appear out of thin air," he murmured, with a grave expression on his face, "then none of us are safe, not even in our own homes."

"I've been thinking about that very thing," said Billy, with a slight shudder, as he added, "Hypothesized, as well. We've all seen that Aisha can cast multiple protective shields at the same time, and that she does not have to concentrate on them to maintain them, merely to break them. Perhaps those same protective shields could be placed around our various dwellings and job sites."

"Hey, yeah, that's a great idea!" exclaimed Rocky, nodding firmly.

"Yeah," said Aisha, dryly, and with a clear hint of sarcasm, "except for the fact that my shields look like giant yellow bubbles. _That _won't seem suspicious at all, Rocky; not even a little bit."

"Oh yeah," muttered Rocky, in defeat.

"I believe I can fix that problem as well," said Billy, immediately regaining the attention of his fellow Rangers. The only person he focused on, however, was their leader. "Tommy," he continued, rising to his feet, "I think it's about time we take that trip to the old Power Chamber."

--


	9. Return of an Old Friend

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter Eight – Return of An Old Friend**_

_**Original Posting Date: May 24, 2009**_

--

"Why?" said Tommy, folding his arms across his chest as he looked at Billy curiously. "What do you need out there?"

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest," answered Billy, sort of helplessly, "But if it's still there, I'll know it when I see it; and if it is, then we need to get a hold of it as soon as we possibly can. By that, I mean sunrise tomorrow morning."

Sighing, Tommy ran his hand through his hair and nodded. "Alright, we'll go tomorrow. I know I promised you guys I'd take you out there as well," he replied, shifting his attention briefly to Adam and Rocky, then to Aisha and Kimberly as he continued, "So we might as well make it a group thing if any of you want to come."

"I'm in for sure," said Adam, grinning.

"Me too," said Rocky, looking to his wife, who nodded her agreement.

"Might as well," said Kimberly, with a laughing shrug.

"What about you, Hayley?" questioned Billy, catching her off guard once more. "I'm sure with your background you would find Zordon's Eltarian technology to be most interesting."

Visibly taken aback, it took Hayley a few moments before she was finally able to murmur, "Oh, I've already been a few times," with a flippant wave of her hand. "Besides," she added, "this is a team thing. I'm not really a part of the team."

"You're damn right you are," said Kimberly, firmly, Tommy flinching as he turned to look at the Pink Ranger with a confused expression on his face. "Look," she continued, facing Hayley, deciding that she, Kimberly, would have to be the one to bridge the gap between them, "I know we got off to a bad start, but if Tommy's willing to put as much faith in you as he is, then I think the rest of us should be too. In my book, that makes you a part of the team."

"She's right," interjected Adam, nodding. "Having powers isn't a requirement to being a part of this team. When we went Zeo, Billy didn't have any powers, and I think it's safe to say that we would have been lost without his help."

Trying not to blush, Hayley swallowed hard and stammered, "W-well t-thank you, I'd be glad to go. It really means a lot to me that you guys feel that way."

"Fughetaboutit," said Rocky, faking a thick Italian accent that left Aisha rolling her eyes.

"God, you are so lame sometimes," muttered Aisha, from her seated position on her husband's lap, her arm draped around his shoulder with his hand resting on her waist. Turning to Hayley, she smiled and added, "Welcome to the team, Hayley."

"Alright then," said Tommy, clapping once, "it's settled. Sunrise is a few minutes before seven. Everyone meet down here tomorrow morning at quarter 'til and we'll go from there, alright?"

Hayley and the other Rangers all nodded their understanding and rose to their feet, saying their goodbyes as they prepared to depart for the evening. Tommy, however, had other plans in mind for two of them. He made eye contact with Kimberly just as she was about to teleport, shaking his head ever so slightly in a way that made her freeze on the spot. By the time she had recovered, the rest of her teammates were already gone.

Tommy said nothing, merely held up a single finger to Kimberly as he looked towards Hayley, moving his head in Kimberly's direction. In understanding of his silent request Hayley sighed, nodded, and turned to face Kimberly, taking a few slow steps towards the Pink Ranger.

"I—" started Hayley, quietly shaking her head, "I owe you an apology, Kim. I was a bitch that day in the café, the way I treated you was totally out of line. I was quick to judge you when I shouldn't have, and now that I've gotten to know you a bit, I realize how wrong of me that was. I am truly sorry for that."

Kimberly smiled softly. "Hey, I'm sure I would have reacted the same way had I been in your position," she replied, with a casual wave, "So don't even worry about it. Besides, I wasn't exactly a Good Samaritan that day, either."

Hayley laughed and said, "Yeah, but you wouldn't have reacted that way if I hadn't given you a reason to in the first place. Tommy touts your fighting skills pretty highly; I'm just glad you didn't bust my nose or something."

Looking to Tommy in surprise, Kimberly rolled her eyes in quick recovery as she returned her attention to Hayley and muttered, "He exaggerates."

"I don't think so," said Hayley, shaking her head once more, lowering her voice so that only Kimberly could hear her as she added, "Not when it comes to you, at least. I swear to God, he's like a lost puppy dog when you're not around."

Covering her mouth to stifle a laugh, Kimberly took a few silent moments to regain her composure and then replied, "You have no idea how funny that is to hear you say that. In high school he was—"

"I was what?" asked Tommy, approaching the pair from behind, everything going silent as they turned to face him.

"Oh, I was just telling Hayley—"

"She was just telling me how hot you were back in high school," interjected Hayley, with a smirk, leaving Kimberly staring at her in disbelief as she continued, "And how you've only gotten hotter since then. I gotta run, Tommy, I'll see you guys in the morning."

She was already halfway up the stairs by the time she had finished speaking, gone before Tommy or Kimberly could say another word to her. Instead, Kimberly immediately looked to Tommy and firmly stated, "That's not what I was saying."

"No?" chuckled Tommy, teasingly, raising an eyebrow at her.

"No," muttered Kimberly, biting down on her lip, trying to ignore the fact that, even though she had not said it aloud, she could not help but to think it. "Don't look at me like that," she added, at Tommy's expression that said he did not believe her for a second.

"What if I told you something?" murmured Tommy, slowly closing what little space remained between he and Kimberly, as Hayley's words from a few days prior echoed powerfully at the forefront of his thoughts.

"_The longer you pretend like you don't care, the bigger the risk you're taking of losing her for good. You tell her how you feel and one of two things can happen: she feels the same way, or she doesn't. Either way, at least you know where you stand, but if you don't do anything then the only thing that you can ever do is wonder."_

Caught off guard, Kimberly managed to meekly murmur, "Tell me what?"

Intentionally invading her space, Tommy took her gently by the shoulders and quietly answered, "What if I told you that, if Karma had finished the job, one of my biggest regrets would have been not kissing you that day in the laundry room?"

This was it, Kimberly said to herself.

Swallowing hard, she replied just as softly, "Then I'd say that dying is a risk we take every day as Rangers, and that if you don't want to have to live with that regret, then now's your chance to do something about it."

It was all the confirmation that Tommy needed to do what he had wanted to do for so very, very long now. The moment his lips met Kimberly's he knew that no one else's kiss would ever be able to sate him again.

What started off as a slow and tender kiss, quickly took a more aggressive turn as the passion between them simmered towards the surface. Hands began exploring, touching the places that they had only fantasized about in high school. There was neither speech nor profound revelation, simply the shared and silent understanding that whatever happened next would be done without regret.

When the alarm clock in Tommy's bedroom went off at five-thirty the following morning, not only could he not recall having set it, he was hard pressed to remember how he had even made it into bed at all. With his face buried in his pillow, unable to see the time, he knew that he could not have slept more than a few hours, evidenced by the fact that he could still feel his legs tingling from the intense workout they had just been subjected to.

"So worth it," Tommy muttered, grinning to himself as he rolled over and hit the alarm clock, left with a puzzled expression when he flipped onto his other side and saw that Kimberly was not there. Bolting upright, he sat against the headboard and nervously ran his hand through his hair. "Was it all just—" he started, shaking his head, "—a dream?"

"No dream could ever be _that_ good, Tommy," said Kimberly, grinning at him from her position in the doorjamb. She was wearing only an oversized tee shirt of Tommy's that hung to just above her knees, holding a steaming mug of coffee in her hands. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind," she continued, Tommy realizing then that she must have been the one to set the alarm, "I kind of just made myself at home. I didn't really see much sense in going back to my place since everyone's going to be here so soon."

Tommy was unable to contain his smile, thankful that it had not been a dream. "Not at all," he replied, beckoning for her to come closer, which she did while maintaining her own grin, as Tommy added, "The baggy tee shirt look is way sexy on you."

Kimberly playfully rolled her eyes, setting her coffee mug on Tommy's nightstand as he scooted over to give her some room. As she lay down next to him on her side, her head resting on the inside of the arm wrapped around her shoulder, she ran her fingertips lazily across Tommy's naked chest and whispered, "So, how are you feeling?"

"Like I've been missing out and that last night should have happened a long time ago," answered Tommy, with a chuckle, "You?"

"About the same," said Kimberly, sharing his laughter. Still, she was quick to bring their conversation to a more serious note. "Look, Tommy, I don't regret what happened last night for a second, but at the same time—and I hope I'm not being too blunt in saying this—I'm just not looking for a relationship right now. Between my school and being a Ranger, I just can't commit the time that it takes to have a healthy relationship, and when it comes to you, I'm not going to half-ass it."

Tommy closed his eyes for a moment and sighed internally, having already been prepared for her to say something like this. However, there was a definite silver lining in what she had said and he immediately picked up on it. "So what you're saying," he started, gently tracing his fingers along her back, "is that maybe in the future—"

"It's a definite possibility," said Kimberly, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "You're a great guy, Tommy, and I really do care about you; that's why I don't want to jump into a relationship right now. For now, let's just have fun when we can, take it day-by-day, and see where things go from there."

Though he did not share her opinions on having a relationship, the last thing he wanted to do at this point was push her away by being stubborn. "I'm okay with that," he replied. "I'm not going to sleep with anyone else, though."

"Me neither," murmured Kimberly.

"Good," said Tommy, smiling. Then, in one quick motion, he shifted his arms and pulled her around so that she lay on top of him, eager to taste her lips once more. He did so swiftly, and was more than ready for a repeat of the previous night, but was also aware in the back of his mind of the impending arrival of the other Rangers. Just as they started to re-approach the point of no return, he regretfully tore his lips away from Kimberly's and added, "We can't, Kim. The others are going to get suspicious if you're the first one here besides me, wearing the exact same thing that you had on yesterday."

Kimberly just laughed. "I'm not hiding 'us' from 'them,' Tommy," she countered, kissing him again before adding, "But you're right, I should probably go home and get some different clothes. Give me a few minutes and we can save a little water, okay?"

Tommy grinned at the sultry wink she gave him, nodding his head and giving her one last fleeting kiss as she rolled onto her feet and gathered up her belongings, disappearing in a crackling column of pink energy.

"A relationship without actually being a relationship?" he mused aloud, throwing the sheets away from his waist. Rising to his feet, he started towards the bathroom door, shaking his head and adding, "This should be interesting."

It was nearly an hour—the better part of which was spent in a steamy shower—that the first of the group arrived with a knock on the door, meaning it could have only one been person. "Hey, Hayley," said Tommy, as he opened the front door, before he had even seen her. There was an unmistakable glimmer in his eyes when he saw the pink box she had in hand. "Donuts!" he exclaimed, motioning for her to come inside, "You have no idea how much I love you."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," she replied, dumping the box off on Tommy as she walked in. Making her way towards the kitchen with Tommy right behind her, she looked back and added, "So what happened after I left last night?"

Tommy quickly made a cut-throat motion and held a finger to his lips, jerking his thumb towards the living room. Furrowing her brow, Hayley retrieved a jug of orange juice from the refrigerator and then casually peered around the corner, her eyes widening in shock when she saw Kimberly lying on the couch. Swiftly turning around, she posed a silent question to Tommy, one he could only answer by shrugging helplessly.

"Hey, Kim," said Hayley, announcing her presence.

Looking up, Kimberly pushed herself into a seated position as she replied, "Oh, hi, Hayley."

"Hayley brought donuts, Kim," interjected Tommy, holding up the pink box for her to see.

"Yum, I'm starving," said Kimberly, crossing the living room and entering the kitchen. Tommy handed her a maple bar on a paper towel as soon as she was within reach, Kimberly shaking her head as she muttered, "Yeah, the old memory has definitely gotten better over the years."

"No, it hasn't, trust me," said Hayley, with a laugh. "Tommy is still very selective about what he chooses to remember."

The underlying tone in Hayley's comment was something that no man would have ever caught, but to Kimberly it was something much more than a dig at Tommy's memory. His forgetfulness had not completely wavered, but he had not forgotten a single thing when it came to her.

"Come on, let's go down to the basement," said Tommy, with the box of donuts in one hand; a stack of paper towels, a sleeve of plastic cups, and the jug of orange juice all positioned strategically in the other. "The others are going to be here soon."

They had barely descended the steps into the basement when a blue beam of teleportation energy suddenly appeared, revealing Billy a moment later. "Greetings," he spoke, making a beeline for the refreshments as soon as he saw them on resting near the computers.

It was not long after that when Adam arrived, mimicking Billy and heading straight for the donuts. Rocky and Aisha came just minutes later, Rocky still rubbing sleep from his eyes, though even he could not help but to perk up instantly when he saw the pink box.

"Oh, thank God," breathed Rocky, grabbing a chocolate bar, half of which he ate in one bite.

"Nice, Rocky, very nice," muttered Adam, laughing as he shook his head at his friend.

The group was quick to eat their breakfast, wanting to get started on whatever Billy was looking for as soon as they possibly could. When there were no more donuts remaining, Tommy announced to the others that it was time to leave.

"You know what?" said Hayley, as though having just realized something extremely profound. "I'm going to have to drive, aren't I?"

Tommy's mouth fell open slightly, running his hand through his hair as he replied, "Aww, man, I didn't even think about that."

"I did, though," said Billy, approaching Hayley while reaching into the hip pocket of his jeans. Extracting a silver communicator, he extended it to a surprised Hayley and added, "We never know what's going to happen, so I figured it would be advantageous for you to have one just in case of an emergency."

"Will it work even though I'm not a Ranger?" questioned Hayley, taking the communicator and strapping it to her wrist with great care.

Billy nodded and said, "Near instant teleportation to anywhere on the planet."

"Wow, cool!" replied Hayley, smiling graciously. "Thanks, Billy."

Undoubtedly flustered was how Billy appeared when Hayley threw out her arms and embraced him without warning. "A-affirmative," he managed, patting her back awkwardly, thankful that she stepped back fairly quickly.

"Alright guys, let's head out," interjected Tommy, the others all nodding as they fell into rank, Hayley standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Billy, who gave her a quick crash course on how to use her new communicator. Next moment, seven beams of different colored light shot into the sky—Hayley's a dull shade of gray—and touched down at the outskirts of Angel Grove just seconds later. Looking around to gather his bearings, Tommy pointed to a small clearing up ahead and said, "The entrance is right over there, follow me guys."

Following a brief bit of climbing they came to a stop in front of the cliffside, where Tommy gently ran his index finger along the inside of a three-inch-deep crevice in the rock wall. Although the crevice seemed to run across the entire length of the wall, Tommy's finger came to a stop after meeting a tiny stone blockade. To the others it appeared as if he was wiggling his finger in the crack, but then came a loud hiss as a large chunk of the cliff swung inward, revealing a darkened tunnel that he approached with caution, using his Power Coin to cast a beam of white light in front of his path.

"Watch out," continued Tommy, as Hayley and the other Rangers followed closely behind him. "There's all kinds of broken equipment laying around, and I'm pretty sure that I heard bats the last time I came."

"Oh, great," muttered Kimberly, she who stood the closest to Tommy, using her own coin for guiding light. "I freaking hate bats."

"Just stay as quiet as you can until we get inside and it'll be fine," said Tommy, softly. "We're going to have to go fairly deep underground," he added, to the group. "Stick close, we're about to hit a pretty steep decline."

Deeper and deeper they went, occasionally coming across a shattered piece of machinery that had once been part of something much bigger. For nearly fifteen minutes they traversed the sharply angled hill, Tommy allowing them to wonder aloud as to what they would find, until at last they came to a halt before a wall of what appeared to be glowing, neon green slime.

"Why did we have to come all the way down here?" asked Rocky, scratching the back of his head. "I thought the Power Chamber was above ground."

Billy shook his head. "Only the main areas that we used on a regular basis," he replied, extending his arm through the goo. Pulling his arm back out, he saw that it was neither green nor slimy; the vortex was still active. "The vast majority of the Power Chamber's hardware and technology was housed deep underground, where it was supposedly safe from the likes of Divatox and the Machine Empire. Obviously, that did not prove to be the case."

"Exactly," said Tommy, nodding. He then looked around at the other Rangers and added, "Does anyone want to go first?"

"I'll go," said Billy, walking through the vortex without waiting for a reply.

One by one they stepped through the green wall, until finally they had all passed through the vortex, arriving in a dimly lit hallway with steel-grey walls, the occasional matching door, and many a twist and turn.

"This is it," said Tommy, turning in a slow circle. "Usually I'd have to de-activate the alarms, but since we all have active powers now that shouldn't be a problem. I don't think there's anything too dangerous in any of the rooms, but be careful just in case; nothing ever seems to be in the same place from how I left it, and I think there are still some rooms that I haven't found yet. The doors all like to switch places from time to time."

"The doors switch places?" said Adam, raising a curious eyebrow.

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, they do," he replied, with a shrug. "I don't know why, but last time I came there was a door right here," he continued, pounding his fist against the wall, then pointing to a door across the hall and adding, "And that one _wasn't_ there last time. It's crazy, I know, kind of like the place doesn't want you to remember where anything is."

"Weird," muttered Aisha, a few members of the group echoing her sentiments as they started down the hallway.

"Definitely," said Tommy, turning to Billy. "I say we split up into small groups, that way we can cover more ground in finding whatever it is that you're looking for. Do you have any idea what this thing looks like?"

"Vaguely," answered Billy, uncertainly. "Like I said last night, I would most certainly know it when I saw it. Unfortunately, it's the whole seeing part that tends to be the problem when the device you're in search of turns everything around it invisible."

The expression on Tommy's face became one of deep thought, replaced a moment later by one of great revelation. "I was there," he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "It was just an empty room…I knew that something didn't seem right about it, I just couldn't figure out what that was."

"Let me guess," said Kimberly, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "The next time you came back, it was gone."

Tommy sighed and nodded. "At least we know what we're looking for now, though. Let's split up and look for a room that's completely empty. If anyone other than Billy finds it, make sure that he's the first to know, and whatever you do, don't touch anything."

Their groups were easily determinable: Tommy went with Kimberly, Aisha with Adam and Rocky, and Billy with Hayley, the latter of which had Kimberly grinning from ear to ear as she and Tommy departed from the other Rangers, disappearing down a long stretch of hallway.

"You think Billy and Hayley would be good together," said Kimberly, earning Tommy's attention as she added, "Like, as a couple?"

"I don't know really," said Tommy, shrugging. "They're both freaking geniuses, so I guess they've got that going for them, but I don't really see Hayley as being Billy's type to be honest. He's always gone for the calm, quiet type, and Hayley's about as boisterous and opinionated as one person could possibly be; you saw that first hand."

Kimberly laughed knowingly. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Still, it'd be nice if Billy could find someone that truly makes him happy. I know that no one will ever be able to completely replace Trini for him, but he at least deserves a little bit of happiness after everything that he's been through since coming home."

"I don't disagree," replied Tommy, stopping in front of a pair of blast doors. There was a small black panel alongside the door, but after pressing one of the buttons he was left to roll his eyes when nothing happened. "Sometimes the electronics don't really work either," he continued, slipping his fingers into the thin space between the doors. Using all his strength to pull them apart, progressing no more than an inch at a time, he gruntingly added, "Guess I should have told the others about that."

"Yeah, probably," murmured Kimberly, grinning.

Tommy chuckled and moments later, with a great heave, was able to pry the entrance open, revealing a spacious room filled to capacity with floor-to-ceiling shelves made of the same grey steel as the walls and doors. Rested on the shelves were stacks of wooden crates of various sizes, arranged first by the differing logos that they bore, then by their colors.

"This isn't it," muttered Tommy, almost automatically. "It's just the storage room for the history on all of the old Ranger teams." Pointing to a row of crates across the hall emblazoned with the letters _P.R.N.S._, he added, "Looks like they added the newest team since the last time I was here. Come on, let's keep moving."

Looking around in awe at all of the boxes, Kimberly turned to Tommy and said, "I want to check some of this stuff out. Give me a few minutes and I'll catch up to you. Just don't go too far; I have no idea where I'm going in this place."

"Alright, just turn left out of here when you're done and I'll be in one of the next few rooms," said Tommy, Kimberly nodding her understanding as he made to leave. Halfway out the door, however, he turned back around and walked over to Kimberly, capturing her lips with his own before she had time to realize what was happening.

When the kiss broke she was flushed and short of breath, touching her fingertips to her lips as she smiled and whispered, "What was that for?"

"No regrets," answered Tommy, with a subtle wink, this time departing for good.

He appeared quite proud of himself as he exited the room, turning down the hall with a grin the size of Texas. It took but a minute for him to stumble upon another door, prying it open just as he had the last. This new room was even larger than the previous, leaving Tommy's eyes wide in disbelief as he set his sights on the contents of the room he had never seen before. It contained only a single steel table at the center-point, bathed in an iridescent green glow, but it was the lone black-and-silver object on the table that caused him to approach with such great trepidation, his movements slow and extremely calculated.

"No way," he muttered, carefully grasping the handle of the small object in his right hand, laying its flattened surface against his open palm.

Half-expecting it to be a figment of his imagination, when nothing seemed to happen he gave the item a quick wave, then let loose with a series of vigorous slashes through the air. How it could even be possible went well beyond his scope of reasoning, but there in his hand was a dagger; the very same dagger that he had wielded so many years ago.

"Have you found something that interests you, Tommy?"

Immediately Tommy's eyes went to the farthest corner of the room, staring deep into the shadows where the voice had emanated from. Instinctively fearing the worst, he lowered himself into a fighting stance, more than ready to use his weapon of old once more, but as a figure slowly emerged from the shadows Tommy's position relaxed considerably, a toothy grin of surprise crossing his face when he saw who it was.

--

On the other side of the Power Chamber's underground remains, Billy had just pried open yet another set of doors for he and Hayley, granting them entrance to their fifth room thus far. Since Hayley had already been here multiple times and with Billy being so firmly focused on finding the invisibility device there was very little time spent on casual exploration. Instead they had ended up engaged in deep conversation as they moved from room to room, chatting at length about things the other Rangers would have never been able to understand.

Unfortunately, they had yet to find the necessary equipment and the frustration on Billy's face was starting to show. When their current place of visit gave no helpful results, Billy threw his hands up in disgust and left without a word, Hayley following behind him as he paced furiously down the hallway.

She had to admit that it was kind of amusing seeing him this way, struggling for something when the answers always seemed to come so easily to him. It was sort of cute, the way she smiled at his back, completely oblivious to the notion that she was ogling him like a schoolgirl with a crush. He was not hard on the eyes by any stretch of the imagination, and his profound level of intelligence only attracted her to him even further.

Approaching another pair of doors, Billy shook his head and muttered a slew of curse words beneath his breath as he saw that they were already opened, more than likely meaning that someone had previously inspected it without success. However, as he and Hayley peered beyond the entrance, he found himself drawn inside despite the fact that it was obviously not the room that they were looking for. Its walls were loaded with multi-colored wooden crates denoted by logos and lettering, some of which Billy recognized, while others he did not.

"Tommy calls it the History Room," said Hayley, casually, entering the room and pointing to a nearby shelf. "Every Ranger and Ranger-team that has ever existed on this planet has had their entire history recorded and this is where it's all stored. Team history is in the unpainted boxes, individual Rangers in the ones that match the colors they wore on that particular team."

Billy's attention immediately took him to the nearest shelf of crates, these emblazoned with a jagged lightning bolt. "I assume these would be mine then, correct?" he questioned, gently running his fingertips across the blue-painted wood.

"Yep," said Hayley, nodding.

"Then that must mean that these are—" continued Billy, falling silent when he reached the row of yellow crates, half of which bore a numerical one, while the other half carried a two.

Again, Hayley nodded, though this time she remained silent, watching as Billy slowly took down one of the yellow crates and lowered it to the ground, effortlessly removing the container's lid. Expecting to find things like photographs and video tapes, he was surprised to see that the only thing inside of the crate was a simple piece of white paper with a brief message scribed across the page. After extracting the paper, he read the message to himself:

_It's the things we do that matter, Billy, not the things we did._

_Love always,_

_Trini_

"What does it say?" asked Hayley, keeping a short distance between them lest his discovery be something that he did not want her to see.

"Nothing," muttered Billy, hastily folding the paper and shoving it into his hip pocket before returning the crate to the shelf. He thought about pulling down the remainder of the boxes, but somehow knew that doing so would only result in similar findings. "Let's get going," he added, turning to leave.

"Billy, wait," said Hayley, causing him to stop and slowly turn back around, a look of concern on Hayley's face as she continued, "I know what it feels like, losing the one person who means the entire world to you. It's not easy, but pretending like it doesn't hurt will only make it worse in the end."

Billy scoffed. "I appreciate the sentiment, Hayley, but I seriously doubt you have any idea what it feels like; so please, let's just keep going."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Trust me, Billy, I do understand, probably more than you could ever even imagine. You're easily the smartest one in your group of friends; the one person who could help you bridge that gap is no longer around; and you feel like you're completely alone now, even though you have a great group of friends, all of whom love you and want nothing more than to see you happy again. Does that sound about right?"

"What's your point?" said Billy, tightly, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

"I was there, Billy. I understand your pain," murmured Hayley, leaning against a nearby shelf, her arms folded across her chest. "It was right after I had gotten my bachelor's degree, so just over three years ago. My boyfriend at the time had just proposed to me and I said yes. Three months before the wedding, he was on his way home from work one night and got blindsided by a drunk driver. He-he didn't even make it to the hospital."

Tears brimmed in Hayley's eyes at that point, the young woman looking away in embarrassment as Billy stared at her in shock. "I-I'm so sorry," he whispered, running his hand through his hair, feeling like quite the idiot for having assumed what he had. "Tommy, he-he never mentioned—"

"No, I doubt he would have," said Hayley, shaking her head. "I've known Tommy since he was nineteen and we've never talked about death for more than five minutes, and even then it was pretty awkward. I think deep down, despite the way he carries himself, the thought of death scares him more than he'll ever be willing to admit.

Swallowing hard, Billy replied, "I'm sorry if I sounded cold. It's just that everyone tries to pretend like they understand what you're going through, but the truth is that very few of them actually do. I just assumed you were another one of those people and I shouldn't have done that."

"It's alright," said Hayley, managing a meager smile. "Just know that you aren't completely alone, okay?"

Billy nodded, and before he knew what had hit him he and Hayley were embracing fiercely, both with tear filled eyes. In a matter of seconds, though, their emotional moment came to a screeching halt as Billy's communicator went off with its familiar six-tone chime. Clearing his throat, he released his hold on Hayley and gave her a thankful smile as he raised his wrist to his lips and said, "This is Billy, come in."

"Billy, its Tommy," said the White Ranger. "Listen, something big has just come up. I need you and Hayley to get back to the vortex as soon as possible. Kim's already contacting Aisha to let her know."

Furrowing his brow, Billy briefly shared a curious look with Hayley and then replied, "Alright, we're on our way. Did you find the invisibility device?"

"No," said Tommy. "This is much better. Everything will be explained when you guys get here."

"Okay," said Billy, motioning for Hayley to follow him as he went running out of the room, adding, "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"See you then," said Tommy, ending the transmission.

What could have been better than finding the invisibility device, Billy did not know, but the prospect of whatever it was made him run as fast as he could, until finally he reached the wall of green slime where Tommy and Kimberly were already waiting, Hayley arriving right on his heels. No sooner had they come to a stop than Adam, Rocky, and Aisha came bursting around another corner, running full-speed ahead.

"What's going on?" said Rocky, flanked by Adam and Aisha.

"You'll see in a second," answered Tommy, pointing to the vortex. "Go on through."

Shrugging, Rocky stepped forward and entered the vortex, as one-by-one Hayley and the other Rangers followed him in. Tommy was the last to go through, and was also the only one aside from Kimberly who did not seem utterly flabbergasted by what was waiting for them on the other side.

It was not the darkened tunnel that they had originally used to get underground; in fact, it was about the farthest thing imaginable from a darkened tunnel. For the ladies in the group, it was a place that neither had ever seen before. For Adam, Billy, Rocky, and Tommy, it was the Power Chamber exactly as they remembered it. Well, almost as they remembered it.

The murmurs of surprise ceased as soon as they had noticed the empty energy tube across the chamber's main floor, the Rangers sharing a moment of silence for their fallen mentor. Then, as Tommy had expected, chaos broke out with the Rangers all questioning what had happened, how it was even possible.

"Look, guys," said Tommy, holding up his hands, "I'm not the right person to ask those questions, but there's someone else here who can."

"Who?" questioned Adam, wearing a curious expression.

"Alpha," murmured Kimberly, motioning towards the nearby blast doors.

"Alpha?" said Billy, raising an eyebrow as the blast doors hissed open with a smoky release.

Eyes were wide all around next moment, as the automaton known as Alpha-5 padded into the Power Chamber proper, his heavy metal footsteps clanging loudly against the hard floor.

"Ay-yi-yi, welcome back, Rangers," said Alpha, his arms waving up and down wildly as he approached the group. "It's so good to see you all again."

"Alpha!" exclaimed Aisha, rushing to greet their robot friend, hugging him warmly. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, Aisha," answered Alpha, as the other Rangers made to greet him as well. Tommy, Kimberly, and Hayley hung back, watching Alpha grow frantic from the various greetings and questions that were being thrown his way. "Ay-yi-yi, all of this emotion is going to fry my systems!"

Tommy laughed as he put his arm around Kimberly's shoulder, her own arm slipping around his waist. She had gone off in search of Tommy some fifteen minutes after he had left her in the History Room, finding both he and Alpha in the room that contained the Dragon Dagger, though neither Tommy nor Alpha had yet to make mention of the old weapon.

"So that's Alpha, huh?" murmured Hayley, not wanting to interfere with the reunion.

"Yeah," said Kimberly, nodding. "He's the best. I just can't believe he's still here after all of these years."

"You guys will probably be working together a lot now that we have the Power Chamber back," added Tommy, grinning.

"Wait, back?" asked Hayley, confused, "As in fully functional?"

Tommy shrugged. "I would assume so. Alpha didn't tell us much," he replied, indicating Kimberly as well as himself. "But he did tell us that the Power Chamber is mostly operational again. There are a few things he couldn't fix without Zordon's help though."

"Hey, guys," Adam called out, "Come over here. Alpha said he's got some stuff for us to hear."

"Alright," said Tommy, leading the way over to the rest of the group. "What's up?" he asked, once they had rejoined Alpha and their teammates.

"Ay-yi-yi, this is so hard for me to explain. I guess I should start at the beginning," answered Alpha, red blips racing rapidly across his visor. "The man that you have all been fighting is someone that most of you had never met until recently."

"Most of us?" said Tommy.

Alpha nodded. "Only three of the Rangers have ever done battle with him before, one of whom is no longer with us."

Tommy's eyes went wide. "No," he replied, shaking his head firmly, "Not him. It can't be."

"I'm afraid it is, Tommy," said Alpha, a hint of sadness in his voice. "The Hunter has returned to finish what he started with Trini."

It was not intentional by any means, but all eyes immediately shifted to Billy, the Blue Ranger appearing to be somewhere in between angered and confused. They waited for him to say something, anything at all, but Billy remained silent, refusing to verbally express the whirlwind of emotions rushing through him at that moment. Most of the time—as was the case now—the loss of his beloved was still much too painful for him to talk about.

"Do you know what he wants with us, Alpha?" asked Rocky, his hand laid protectively on Aisha's shoulder as he added, "I mean, besides completely wiping us off the planet and everything like that."

"Yes, I do, Rocky," said Alpha, nodding once more. "As I said, it's a long story, and Zordon never explained every detail—as most of this happened long before he and I had met—but here goes. Thousands of years ago, long before any Ranger team existed on Earth, Zordon was the leader of an incredibly elite organization known as the Order of Meledon. Along with Dulcea, Ninjor, and a few other young warriors, the Order of Meledon was charged as the universe's strongest and most reliable line of defense. They defended planets across the galaxies, saving worlds that they had no real ties to. They were, for comparison's sake, very much like all of you.

"As time wore on, the Order grew in rank, with each of the member's taking on an apprentice who would eventually relieve them as the Order's members aged. Zordon's apprentice was a young man from the Sumarian system called Kehy. He was very much like Zordon: strong-willed, protective of those close to him, even a bit stubborn at times. He was also the leader of the small group that imprisoned Ivan Ooze in his hyper-locked chamber all those years ago. In the end, though, those qualities would be his undoing. Years went by and he began to desire the leadership position within the Order, but Zordon was not prepared to step down yet."

Somehow, Tommy already seemed to know where this was going. "He turned on Zordon, didn't he?"

"Indeed he did, Tommy," answered Alpha, "In dramatic fashion, too. Using the very same magic that Zordon had taught him, Kehy conjured his own army and then attempted to destroy the Eltarian castle that was home to the Order as they slept one night. The Order fought vigorously, and in the end they were successful, but not without a price. Kehy, his army, and most of the Order's apprentices were killed in battle; and Ninjor was so permanently disfigured that a special armor had to be constructed in order for him to stay alive. Feeling responsible for everything that had happened, Zordon disbanded the Order and sought permanent refuge on Earth where he lived a normal life for quite some time.

"Then, just over one thousand years ago, shortly after Zordon had commissioned me from King Lexian on Edenoi, a man claiming to be Kehy appeared at the Command Center seeking Zordon. It was not Kehy, merely his evil and twisted spirit occupying the body of an innocent human. He had since begun calling himself 'The Hunter' and he sought to finish with Zordon what he had started all those years before. Zordon attempted to convince him otherwise, but it was no use. Kehy attempted to attack the Command Center, but Zordon was able to stop him once more, this time banishing Kehy's spirit to the deepest reaches of the universe."

Hayley then cleared her throat. "I'm sorry for interrupting, Alpha—"

"That's quite alright, Hayley," said Alpha.

"H-how do you know who I am?" questioned Hayley, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"I know much about you, Hayley," answered Alpha. "That will all be explained later, however. What was your question?"

It took Hayley a moment to recover from her surprise, at which point she then said, "Maybe I missed something, but how does Kehy have anything to do with The Hunter?"

"They are one in the same, Hayley," said Alpha, with a shudder. "This is where all of you come in to play. Twenty-six years ago, on the day of one of your births, there was an incredible surge of power in the Morphing Grid, a surge of power that somehow extended to the place where Kehy had been banished to. His spirit was awoken, which Zordon became aware of immediately, but he also determined that you all would have been long since passed by the time that Kehy's spirit was finally able to reach Earth. Unfortunately, he was incorrect in that assumption."

"But that still doesn't explain what he wants with us," interjected Rocky, scratching his head.

"Yes, it does," murmured Kimberly, closing her eyes for a brief moment before reopening them and adding, "He wants to kill all of us in order to get back at Zordon since he couldn't finish Zordon off himself."

"I don't like having to say it," Alpha replied, "But you are correct. The Hunter will not stop in his attempt to destroy you. He must be defeated, once and for all."

"Why the six of us, Alpha?" questioned Aisha. "Jason, Zack, Katherine, Tanya, Justin…The Hunter hasn't gone after any of them; or any of the other Ranger teams out there for that matter."

Alpha shook his head and said, "No, Zordon didn't think he would either, not in the beginning at least. The six of you are unique in that, aside from Dulcea, you are the only living beings to have ever unlocked your individual Ninjetti animal spirits; not just on Earth, but in the entire known universe. Only that power is capable of defeating him and he is already well aware of that, which is why he has gone after you, to eliminate the biggest threat first."

"And you?" said Tommy, with narrowed eyes. "How do you fit into all of this, Alpha?"

If Alpha could have sighed, he would have. "Long before the United Alliance of Evil reached its height of power, Zordon was already well aware that his time of sacrifice was drawing near. Plans were immediately placed into motion; including one for me should The Hunter ever again return to Earth during your lives. That is why I am here now, to help guide you on your journey as Zordon has instructed me to do."

"Alpha, did Zordon," started Kimberly, pausing for a brief moment to focus her thoughts before pressing on, "Did he ever, you know, say anything about us to you before he passed?"

Though he did not immediately reply, when the Rangers all started to stare at him with inquisitive expressions, he eventually nodded his saucer-shaped head. "Zordon left personal messages to all of his Rangers," he answered, a surprise to everyone, including Tommy, who fancied himself fairly knowledgeable when it came to the goings-on of the Ranger world. "But those messages are just that; personal," continued Alpha. "They are for each of you individually, and are not intended to be shared with anyone, including your teammates and significant others."

"Don't you think that's a little bit extreme, Alpha?" asked Rocky.

"It is not my place to judge or question Zordon's requests, Rocky," said Alpha. "Zordon's direct order was that, in order for any of you to be able to view your messages, you must first swear on the protection of the Power that you will never discuss them with anyone. Should you break that oath, you will lose the Power's protection permanently, and you will never be able to be a Power Ranger again."

"Yeah, that does sound a bit extreme," muttered Adam, curious as to why Zordon would demand they go to such great lengths.

"I must agree," added Billy, his thoughts very much similar to Adam's.

"Guys," interjected Tommy, quickly, intent on nipping this issue in the bud before it got out of hand, "Our personal opinions on this really don't matter. Zordon obviously had a reason for doing this, so let's just accept that and move on. There's no point arguing or complaining about something we can't change."

Kimberly nodded her agreement to Tommy, then directed her attention to Alpha and asked, "What about Karma? What's her deal?"

"Karma I know quite a bit about, though I can't say the same about her plans for all of you," replied Alpha, shrugging. "Karma was an up-and-coming presence in the U.A.E. starting just before the Space Rangers became active. Rumors were that she had plans of usurping Ecliptor as Astronema's most trusted general, but before she could assume that position she was captured by Andros and imprisoned on a distant planet. Obviously Andros was not aware of this, but by putting her so far away from Earth he accidentally allowed her to escape the purification power of Zordon's sacrificial energy wave."

"What about the Power Chamber, Alpha?" said Adam. "I thought this place was destroyed by Divatox years ago."

"It was, Adam," replied Alpha, "But, again, Zordon had long ago put certain plans into motion. I have been watching you all for quite some time now, and now that you are all active again, it once again became time for the Power Chamber to go back online as well. Rangers, say hello to your new base of operations."

As if on command, every light in the room went on, the computer systems springing to life with an audible hum. For the Rangers, however, what could have been a time of excitement was actually one of great confliction. They had Alpha and the Power Chamber back, most certainly a cause for celebration, but the knowledge that their automaton companion had just given them made it damn near impossible to display even the slightest sign of happiness.

"Rangers," continued Alpha, noticing their twisted expressions, "You and you alone are the only ones who can end the existence of The Hunter for good, but you must have faith in yourselves as well as each other if there is to be any hope of defeating him. Trust that Zordon would not have charged you with this task if he did not have faith in your abilities to be successful."

Tommy swallowed hard. "Alpha's right, guys," he muttered, looking around at his teammates. "We've had our backs to the wall before, and this time is no different. We _will_ succeed, and when we do, the whole universe will know to never mess with any of us again."

The others all nodded in apparent agreement with their leader, but Billy was quick to reply, "That's all well and good, but what about the reason we all came here in the first place? We've yet to locate the invisibility device necessary to hide Aisha's energy shields."

"Ay-yi-yi," said Alpha, shaking his head, "I completely forgot! When Karma appeared in Kimberly's home, it triggered our alarms and I immediately placed protective shields over all the necessary places. The shields extend fifty-feet beyond your dwellings on all sides, and the shields at your places of work cover the entire premise, as well as any parking lots or adjacent buildings, making them impervious to the forces of evil. At this point, teleportation for personal use has become necessary, and Zordon was aware that it could eventually come to be that way, so in that respect, using the Power for personal use will not result in a loss of the Power and the protection it gives you."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Kimberly, waving her hands, "You knew about what happened at my house?" she questioned, Alpha nodding. "Then why did you wait so long in letting us know you were here? You could have told us weeks ago!"

"I could have," said Alpha, nodding once more, "But it was the personal hope of both Zordon and myself that you would all eventually realize that this place was where the answers to all your questions would lie. Now that that has happened and you are all truly a team again, it became time for me to reveal myself and reactivate the Power Chamber."

Adam grinned. "Well, that's good news at least. I mean, Tommy's basement's cool and all, but this place has _everything._"

"Yeah, for sure," laughed Tommy, nodding his agreement as he continued, "Looks like everything is finally getting back to normal." No sooner had he said those words than the familiar wail of the Power Chamber's alarm system filled the room, causing most of the Rangers to roll their eyes in disgust, though no one more so than Tommy, who added, "Yep, definitely back to normal."

"What is it, Alpha?" questioned Aisha, with a concerned expression.

"Ay-yi-yi," replied Alpha, frantically, stomping over to one of the computer terminals, "It seems as if The Hunter has sent an army of his Dark Soldiers to disrupt a concert in Angel Grove Park. Not only that, but he's also found a way to re-create the Guitardo monster and has sent him along as well."

"Guitardo?" said Adam. "What's that?"

Tommy shook his head. "Long story; we'll tell you guys later," he answered, indicating Rocky and Aisha along with Adam. "Right now," he continued, throwing his hand behind his back as the other Rangers did the same, "It's Morphin' Time!"

--


	10. Beats, Billys, and Boardwalks

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter Nine – Beats, Billys, and Boardwalks**_

_**Original Posting Date: May 31, 2009**_

_**A/N 1: Any songs used from here on in, unless otherwise stated, belong to the respective Ranger actor singing. (I.e., If Kim sings, the song is Amy Jo's).**_

--

The Ranger's victory in their battle with the reincarnated Guitardo monster and Jared's Dark Soldiers was swift, ending in familiar fashion as the Ninja Mega Falconzord left Guitardo crumpled and destroyed in the middle of Angel Grove Park. Rather quickly it was becoming apparent to the Rangers that these monster attacks were nothing more than a distraction, something that Jared was doing to keep them occupied while he fostered a much bigger plan.

As Alpha had explained to the Rangers following their defeat of Guitardo, The Hunter was capable of bringing forth the deceased—both monster and human alike—though these beings were mere shells of their former selves, bodies that could move and speak, but that at the same time were entirely incapable of any sort of thought, feeling or emotion.

Since that day—it had been three, in total—the Rangers had seen no action whatsoever, which in their world was usually a sign that something big was on the verge of happening. That a major event was likely to be just around the corner was a thought that Adam could not seem to shake as he sat at the desk in his office on this Wednesday night, quietly flipping through a stack of paperwork before going home for the evening.

He had a pen between his teeth and was slowly rotating his Power Coin through his fingers, his mind racing all over the place. He thought of his school and his desperate need to hire a real staff, even though it was completely out of budget; of the Rangers and the unknown future that they faced; and perhaps, most importantly, of Tanya, how long it had been since they had seen each other and how a quick conversation on the telephone whenever she had the time was just not cutting it for him anymore.

Letting out a deflated sigh, he gathered up the papers, shoved them haphazardly into one of the desk's drawers, rose to his feet, retrieved his black gym bag from the floor and then prepared to teleport home for what was to be yet another night alone. As soon as he had arrived in the living room of his house he made a beeline for the kitchen, burying his head into the refrigerator with the hope of finding something that looked like it might possibly be edible.

Cooking was never something he had been all that good at, so with Tanya gone he was almost always left to choose between takeout, leftover takeout, and some sort of cold cut sandwich. With another sigh, he closed the refrigerator and went right back to the living room, digging around in his duffel bag until he had retrieved his cell phone and wallet. He was just about to call for pizza when his cell phone rang, causing him to furrow his brow in confusion as he raised the device to his ear and said "Hello?"

After a few moments' silence, he again repeated his greeting, but was once more left with no reply. Now looking quite irritated, his expression turned to one of confusion rather quickly when the phone rang again. It was then, with an exaggerated roll of his eyes, that he realized it was not his cell phone ringing at all, but his wrist communicator chiming at him.

"Nice, Adam, real nice," he muttered, shaking his head as he brought his wrist to his lips and said, "This is Adam, what's up?"

"Hey Adam, its Kim," the Pink Ranger replied, Adam's expression again changing, this time to a look of surprise.

"Oh, hey Kim," said Adam, checking the clock on the DVD player. "Isn't it, like, midnight over there?"

Kimberly laughed. "Yeah, but tomorrow's my birthday so I'm taking the day off. How's another guitar lesson sound?"

Looking around as though to check that he had nothing important to do, Adam then shrugged and said, "Yeah, I'm down for that; only problem is I'm freaking starving and don't have anything here to eat. I was just about to order a pizza—"

"Don't worry about it," said Kimberly, promptly cutting him off. "There's a killer pizza place a few miles away from me that is not only open twenty-four hours a day, but delivers twenty-four hours as well. Oh, and just so you know, my lessons aren't free and I _do_ take payment in the form of pizza."

Adam chuckled. "Got it," he replied. "Tell you what, you order half combination and half with whatever you want; I'm going to go take a quick shower and I'll pay for it when it gets there. Trust me when I tell you that you don't want me coming over after a night's worth of sweaty ass karate lessons."

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Kimberly, with a short laugh. "Just don't take forever. If the pizza guy gets here before you, I'm making his ass wait."

"Alright," said Adam, grinning ever so slightly. "I'll see you in a few, Kim."

"Yep," said Kimberly, ending the transmission.

As soon as the signal went dead Adam headed straight for the upstairs bedroom, deciding to save a bit of time by undressing en route. He nearly tripped halfway up the staircase as a result, but eventually made it into the shower without injury. Just as he had promised, it was a quick shower; in true guy-fashion it took all of twelve minutes and seventeen seconds for him to wash, dry and dress.

Standing near his bed, he was on the verge of teleporting to Kimberly's house when something seemed to strike him. Raising an inquisitive eyebrow, silently questioning himself, he turned on his heels and approached the large oak dresser on the other side of the room. He then dropped to one knee and opened the bottommost drawer, pushing around some socks and tee shirts until he found what appeared to be sheets of crumpled paper folded into a cube.

As it turned out the cube was really the ring box, which he dropped back inside and re-covered with his clothes. It was the papers that he really wanted, hastily shoving them into the hip pocket of his jeans before disappearing in a column of crackling black light, reappearing in Kimberly's kitchen less than a minute later to find the Pink Ranger's head stuffed inside the refrigerator.

"I thought you wanted pizza," said Adam.

"Shit!" exclaimed Kimberly, jumping from her hunched over position. Yanking her head out, she whipped around and firmly stated, "You can't just sneak up on someone like that, Adam."

Grinning, Adam shrugged nonchalantly and said, "A) I figured you were expecting me, and B) It makes a pretty distinct sound when we teleport somewhere; how could you have not heard that?"

"Shut up," grumbled Kimberly, able to laugh once her nerves had calmed down. "Pizza should be here in twenty or so," she added, Adam nodding. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"You know," said Adam, with a shake of his head, "I could really use a beer if you have any."

"That kind of day, huh?" replied Kimberly. Adam merely ran his hand through his hair and nodded, leaving Kimberly to add, "There should be something out in the garage fridge. What do you want and I'll go grab it."

Adam waved her off dismissively. "Don't worry about it, I can get it myself," he replied. "It's all the way down the hall and to the left, right?"

"Yep," said Kimberly, nodding. "Light switch is on the inside and to the right."

"Cool," said Adam, walking off.

By the time he had reappeared a few minutes later with bottle in hand, Kimberly was already seated on the couch in the living room, picking at her guitar and humming ever so softly to herself. Walking towards her, he pulled his key ring from his pocket and used the attached bottle opener to pry the lid from his beer, returning the keys and lid back to his pocket just as he reached the couch where the other guitar waited.

"So, I wasn't going to show you any of this until I'd gotten a little bit better," said Adam, sitting down slowly. Setting his beer on the coffee table, he reached into his other pocket and pulled out a wad of crumpled paper, which he then straightened out on the table as best he could as he added, "But I wrote some stuff and I wanted to see if you'd take a look at it and let me know what you think."

"You mean, like, songs?" questioned Kimberly, Adam nodding. "Yeah, alright, let's see what you've got here."

Sitting back on his haunches, Adam watched with anticipation etched into his face as Kimberly's eyes scanned the wrinkles pages, sometimes squinting, but never revealing even a hint as to what she thought. She spent more time on some pages then others, going back to re-read a few, until at last she set them back on the coffee table and turned to Adam without expression.

"That bad, huh?" asked Adam, appearing slightly embarrassed.

Furrowing her brow, Kimberly shook her head and said, "No, not at all. Here's the thing about lyrics, though; they're a huge part of any song, and can really make or break a song to be honest, but without music they're just words on a page. What you need to do is put some of these lyrics to a tune, then sort of play around with it until you come up with something you like. More often than not, once you find the sound you want you'll end up having to change words around to make them fit anyway."

Taking it all in, Adam nodded, but was interrupted by the doorbell just as he started to reply. "Pizza," he muttered, rising to his feet, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet as he started towards the door.

"I'll get some plates," said Kimberly, standing up and going to the kitchen.

They reconvened in the living room shortly thereafter, Adam with a piping hot pizza, Kimberly with two plates and a handful of napkins. In between eating and playing their guitars they chatted casually; both were surprised at how little they actually knew about each other despite the fact that they had been friends for nearly a decade. Still, there was a certain ease about them as they talked, making each feel like they could tell each other things that they would never tell to anyone else. Even so, neither really felt like spilling their guts, either.

"So what are you doing for your birthday?" asked Adam, nearly thirty minutes into the lesson.

Kimberly shrugged. "Sleeping in, that's for sure," she answered, with a laugh. "Tommy hasn't said a word, but seeing as how it's my birthday _and_ Valentine's Day, I would be seriously surprised if he didn't already have some elaborate scheme planned out."

"Yeah," chortled Adam, knowingly. "Speaking of that, you two seemed pretty close at the Power Chamber the other day. You guys, like, dating now, or what?"

"It's complicated," said Kimberly, somewhat dismissively. "We're not official, and that's completely my doing, but we might as well be. It's just that, between my school and being a Ranger again, life's so busy that I don't want to make a commitment I'm not sure I can keep, you know? I mean, I already showed once that I'm not so great at the long-distance thing."

Closing his eyes, Adam nodded and said, "Yeah, don't remind me. I had nightmares for weeks after that; freaking envelopes attacking me and paper-cutting me to death."

Kimberly laughed. "Trust me, I already know how stupid it was for me to have sent the letter to the Youth Center, but I really am sorry that you were the one who had to read it first. I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I did that."

"Just promise me that if you ever write that poor guy another letter you at least send it to his house," replied Adam, with a chuckle.

"Oh, I swore off letters a long time ago," said Kimberly, grinning. "I've since switched to Dear John e-mails."

"You're heartless," muttered Adam, he and Kimberly both laughing.

After a few moments of laughter, Kimberly's eyes landed on the discarded papers once more. Adjusting her guitar, she retrieved the pages and went right to a sheet towards the end, dropping the rest back onto the table as she turned to Adam and said, "Let's try something."

Adam furrowed his brow in confusion. "Like what?" he questioned.

"This one right here," answered Kimberly, showing Adam the sheet of paper as she read some of the lyrics aloud. "I really like this one. Some of these songs should be faster paced, maybe with an electric guitar instead of an acoustic, but just from reading this one I can tell you, acoustic all the way."

"What did you have in mind?" asked Adam, repositioning the guitar on his lap.

"Well the guitar needs to be slow," said Kimberly, Adam nodding, "And the singing should be really, really soft. Like," she added, continuing in a low, soothing voice, "_'I'm not really good at all this stuff, Like telling everyone that I've got it all figured out.' _Something kind of like that."

Adam grinned. "Yeah, I really like that. It sounds good."

"Tell you what," started Kimberly. "Why don't you sing it how you want it to sound, and then I'll put some music behind it as we go along."

"I don't know, Kim," said Adam, with an awkward laugh. "I've never really sang in front of anyone before."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Well then now's as good a time as any," she replied, setting up the guitar on her lap to play once more. "Let's just see how it sounds, alright? If it sucks, I promise I won't make fun of you."

Closing his eyes briefly, Adam sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'll try," he answered, Kimberly smiling as she adjusted her fingers on the neck of her guitar.

What she heard when Adam sang his lyrics was more than Kimberly ever could have expected from him. His voice was incredibly soft; soothing in such a way that it left Kimberly with goose pimples up and down her arms. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Adam could sing so beautifully.

'_Cause it's just like the way you are_

_To lift me up when I've gone too far away_

_Patch my fears and all of my scars_

_It's just you and me_

_Help me to see, to feel _

_Your love is real_

To place music behind his words was more a pleasure instead of a task, something that had her smiling more and more as they went on. When they had finished, Kimberly could do little more than shake her head.

"Wow, Adam, that was really, really good," she murmured, her surprise evident in her voice. Adam simply beamed with pride as she continued, "Those lyrics are just…_wow_. What made you come up with that?"

Adam's eyes drifted towards his feet at that point. "Tanya," he answered, in a near whisper. "I don't know, it's just…sometimes I feel like I'm losing her, you know? She's so far away and it sucks big time."

"Yeah," said Kimberly, nodding her head knowingly. "I wish I could give you some great advice, but all I can really say is that, if it's meant to be, in the end a few months and a little bit of distance won't be as big of a problem as you think it is. Maybe you should call her and let her know how you feel."

"I don't know, maybe," replied Adam, shrugging. "I just don't want to push her away by seeming selfish though."

"Trust me, Adam, I know _exactly _how you feel, probably more than you'll ever realize," stated Kimberly, softly. "But like I said, I don't really know what to tell you. What you feel, what you need both physically and emotionally…those things can only come from you. I suck at long distance relationships anyway, so even if I did have some advice, I probably wouldn't take it if I was you."

Adam gave a stiff chuckle, checking his cell phone to see that it was well past two o'clock in the morning. "You ready to call it a night?" he questioned.

"Yeah, it's getting late," said Kimberly, rising to her feet as Adam did the same. They embraced warmly, but as Kimberly pulled back she kept a hand on Adam's arm and added, "Listen, Adam, regardless of what happens with you and Tanya, I promise it will be okay. It might not seem like it right now, but time has a way of making everything better in the end; Tommy and I are living proof of that. Just know that, whatever happens, you'll always have the team, okay?"

Adam nodded and murmured, "Thanks, Kim."

"You're welcome," replied Kimberly, smiling. "Now get out of here so I can get some sleep."

Again, Adam nodded, but this time his eyes fluttered towards the pizza box just as Kimberly's did the same. They then looked towards one another, seemingly sizing each other up for a brief moment before both made their attempts at claiming the leftovers. It was Adam who got there first, executing a low flip over the table while snatching the box away from Kimberly's outstretched hands.

Back on his feet with pizza in hand, Adam grinned and said, "See ya later, Kim. Thanks for the lesson," before disappearing in a column of black light, leaving Kimberly staring with a defeated expression at the place he had just been.

Adam reappeared in his kitchen moments later, depositing the pizza into the refrigerator and then heading straight for his bedroom. Halfway up the stairs he pulled out his cell phone and started tapping randomly at the keypad so that, by the time he had flopped atop his bed, he had a text message typed out to Tanya that read, very simply, _"Call me."_

--

"_Call me."_

Sleepily retrieving her vibrating cell phone from her nearby nightstand, those two words were what awaited Kimberly when she woke the following morning just after eleven o'clock. Reading the text message and who it was from, she groaned "Tommy" into her pillow and then haphazardly dropped the phone onto the floor, yearning for just a few more minutes of sleep, something it seemed she rarely got enough of these days.

Though the Power protected them from injury, it unfortunately did not prevent exhaustion as a result of overwork and lack of sleep. Between active Ranger duties, running her school, and bouncing back and forth between time zones so much that she never knew what time it really was, she was starting to feel like she might lose it at any second. Deep down, though it pained her to admit it, it was all beginning to be a bit much.

This was never more evident than now, when the few more minutes of sleep that she desired turned into two more hours. Even then, it was only the sound of her communicator chiming repeatedly from the nightstand that stirred her from her slumber. Grumbling to herself, she flipped onto her back and swiped at the communicator; bringing it to her lips, she muttered, "Kim here."

"Where have you been, Kim?" said Tommy, frantically. "It's one-thirty and I've been trying to reach you for hours."

Kimberly yawned into her communicator. "Sorry," she replied, strapping the device to her wrist as she climbed out of bed. "So, what's up?" she continued, heading for the kitchen in pajama bottoms and a tank top.

"Nothing, thankfully," said Tommy, Kimberly rolling her eyes, "But like I said, I've been trying to get a hold of you all day. There could have been attacks all morning and you never would have known about it."

"Yes, I would have," argued Kimberly, descending the staircase. "Notice how I didn't answer the calls or text messages, but as soon as you used the communicator I picked up. That means I didn't want to be bothered unless it was an emergency, so unless this is—"

"It's not," said Tommy, hastily adding, "But don't disconnect." Closing her eyes to prevent herself from rolling them again, Kimberly entered the kitchen and waited until Tommy continued, "I just wanted to be the first to wish you Happy Birthday, that's all; and to see if you wanted to get together a little bit later tonight."

"Well thank you, and it depends on what you have in mind," said Kimberly, slyly, retrieving a banana from the fruit bowl that sat atop the kitchen table. "It's not just my birthday, you know."

Tommy laughed. "Oh, I didn't forget that it's Valentine's Day, but that's a couple's holiday and we're not—"

"That's no excuse," interjected Kimberly, grinning to herself as she started to peel away at the banana. "So, like I said, it depends on what you have in mind," she added, teasingly.

"I don't know," replied Tommy. "Today's a minimum day, so I'm done with school at twelve. I thought maybe we could drive up to Santa Cruz and spend the day at the boardwalk. I'll even try and win you a giant stuffed teddy bear."

"Well then I hope your pitching arm is a whole hell of a lot better than it was back in high school," said Kimberly, laughing. "Remember going to the state fair that summer between our freshman and sophomore years? I begged you all night just to try, and when you finally caved in you ended up spending, like, fifty bucks trying to knock those stupid milk bottles over! I even told you to stop and you just wouldn't listen; once you started you were set on winning that bear or emptying your wallet trying."

"Don't remind me," muttered Tommy, dryly. "It took every ounce of self-control I had not to just run up there and roundhouse kick the living crap out of those bottles; and that creepy ass carnie guy, too. He was easily, like, forty years-old, had maybe half of his teeth, and was staring at you like you were dessert or something."

"Eww, thanks for bringing _that_ back up, Tommy," grumbled Kimberly, wiggling in disgust. "I couldn't tell whether he wanted to screw me or chop me up into a million pieces. I seriously had nightmares about that guy for, like, a week straight."

Tommy chuckled and said, "So, do you want to go or what?"

Kimberly left the line silent for a few moments just to keep him waiting, but eventually a smile crossed her lips as she replied, "You know, just talking about it brings back so many awesomely funny memories that I think we pretty much have to go. Just call me whenever you're ready for me to come over, okay?"

"Alright then," said Tommy, unable to contain the hint of excitement in his voice. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay," said Kimberly, smiling brightly. "Bye, Tommy."

Ending the transmission, she quickly finished off the rest of her banana and disposed of the peel before heading back upstairs to get cleaned up. It took nearly the entire allotted time for her to get ready; by twelve-thirty when Tommy called she was wearing a pair of hip-hugger jeans and a pink tank top that revealed her midriff, an outfit that, though casual, was sure to keep Tommy's eyes on her at all times, which was exactly what she wanted.

She arrived in Tommy's living room a few minutes later, her eyes immediately shifting towards the couch where a giant stuffed teddy bear was sitting, holding a red heart in between its oversized paws.

"My pitching arm hasn't gotten any better since high school," said Tommy, standing behind her with his arms folded across his chest, causing Kimberly to whirl around to face him in obvious surprise. "I figured it'd probably be cheaper just to buy you the bear instead of trying all night to win it and failing miserably."

Kimberly grinned. "But that takes all the fun out of it," she replied, slowly closing what little distance remained between she and Tommy.

"Oh, we'll still have fun," said Tommy, with a wink, taking her hand and pulling her in close. "Happy birthday, Kim," he whispered over her lips, a moment before he kissed her passionately.

When their kiss finally broke, Kimberly bit down on her lip ever so softly and murmured, "Well, that was a pretty good start, but it _is_ my birthday after all."

Tommy simply smiled and captured her lips once more.

--

In the basement of his Boston home, Billy sat hunched over his work bench with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and a screwdriver in one of his gloved hands, tightening a few screws that had come loose on the teleportation grid. That the screws had come loose even in the slightest left Billy wondering if there was cause for concern; had he not happened to have caught it and the grid had broken, not only would the Rangers' ability to teleport be destroyed, but the sheer power inside the grid likely would have rendered his entire neighborhood to dust and rubble.

As he carefully worked his way around the grid the sweat upon his brow grew heavier and heavier by the moment, a result of the extreme heat being let off by the constant, highly charged flow of intense energy that ran throughout the reinforced metal cube. To make matters worse, the expulsion of heat was also leaving the lenses of his eye glasses coated with a thin layer of steamy mist, so that every thirty seconds or so he was forced to remove his glasses and clean them on his blue tank top.

Though it only took around five minutes to finish the job, by the time he had finished he was sweating so profusely that his tank top was sticking to practically every inch of his muscular torso, leaving Billy pulling on all sides at the hem of the shirt as he rose to his feet and stepped away from the teleportation grid.

"Time to test it," he murmured to himself, pressing one of the buttons on the side of his communicator. Next moment he was gone in a blur of blue energy, reappearing in the dark alley that ran alongside Kimberly's Miami school a few seconds later. Then he was gone yet again, this time arriving in the forest that surrounded Tommy's house. "All functions seem operational," he added, quietly, convinced as he teleported back home that he had traveled far enough to judge the strength of the grid.

His first action once he was in his basement again was to double-check the grid's physical appearance, Billy looking quite satisfied when he saw that all of the screws were still as tight as he had left them. He was on the verge of heading upstairs to clean up, but was stopped at the first step by the sound of his communicator chiming loudly.

Bringing his communicator to his lips he said, "This is Billy."

"Hey Billy, its Hayley," she replied, Billy appearing a bit surprised as he started up the stairs once more. "Hopefully I'm not catching you at a bad time or anything…" she added.

"No, not at all, Hayley," said Billy, smiling, though he was not entirely sure why. "I was just finishing some repairs on the teleportation grid. How can I be of assistance?" he continued, opening the creaking door at the top of the staircase, letting himself into the above-ground area of the house.

"Well, Tommy has me working on this tracking program so we can hopefully be able to monitor Karma and The Hunter," answered Hayley, Billy making his way to his second-story bedroom as he listened to her continue, "The only problem is that I can't seem to find any sort of consistent pattern in their energy signatures that would make them able to track. I was hoping you might be able to take a look at it to see if you can find something that I couldn't."

"I would be more than happy to take a look at it," said Billy, entering his room. "Unfortunately I'm in no condition to do so at the moment," he added, peeling his shirt off. "Is an approximate arrival time of thirty minutes okay?"

"Yes, Billy," giggled Hayley, "an _approximate arrival time_ of thirty minutes is fine. Just teleport into the stock room at my café when you're ready; I'll text you the coordinates."

"Most excellent," replied Billy, depositing his shirt into the wicker laundry basket outside his bathroom door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've been working in my basement all afternoon and I'm beginning to smell similar to Tommy after completing one of his four hour workouts."

Hayley laughed and said, "Wow, way too much information there, Billy. I think that's a good place to end it."

"Agreed," said Billy, laughing as well. "I'll see you shortly, Hayley."

"Bye, Billy," said Hayley, cutting off the transmission.

Though he was not entirely sure why he felt this way, as he moved into the shower Billy found himself with a rather strange and unexpected underlying sense of urgency, forcing him into a rush to finish as quickly as he possibly could. In a matter of minutes he burst out of the shower, grabbing a towel from the rack outside the shower door which he then wrapped around his waist.

Hurried though he was, as soon as he had applied a heavy layer of shaving cream to his face and neck everything slowed down. His teenage years, while unlike those of almost everyone in the world, had still taught him the same lessons that his peers had learned. In this case, the lesson learned was that a rushed shave rarely turned out well.

When all was said and done it was, to Billy's great pleasure, one of the cleanest and smoothest shaves that he had ever given himself. As he rubbed a few drops of aftershave onto his face he could not help but to admire his handiwork in the mirror above the sink. This led to an unintended flex of his bicep as he rotated his head, which in turn led to Billy staring intently at the reflection of his arm.

"No," he said firmly.

What followed next was something Billy had never done before. In one swift move he flopped to the ground and moved straight into a rapid series of push-ups. He counted them aloud, one after another, until number fifty came and he popped back onto his feet, flexing the same arm as before. For all his work, though, the result was not what he wanted once he saw his reflection.

"Excellent move, Billy," he muttered to himself. "Now not only are you sweating again, but you look like a meathead."

It was at that moment that he got the answers he had been in search of some fifteen minutes prior. His rush to shower, his carefully precise shave, his narcissistic attempt at making his arms look bigger than they really were; he was trying to impress Hayley.

Which begged a new question; why?

As he went about choosing his attire—a royal blue polo shirt with faded blue jeans and white tennis shoes—Billy meticulously pondered that very question. Despite the severe urge to do so, he simply could not deny that he was very much attracted to Hayley. To make matters even more complicated, not only had he found someone who actually _understood_ him, but someone whose company he genuinely enjoyed.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, it was with a guilt-ridden sigh that he teleported to Reefside, arriving in the stock room of Hayley's Cyberspace Café shortly thereafter, surrounded on three sides by floor-to-ceiling shelves all loaded with boxes. Seeing that he was alone, he made his way towards the exit and stepped out into the main area of the café, feet away from where Hayley stood behind the coffee bar, hurriedly making drinks for the after-school crowd that was so obviously the primary demographic of her customer base.

"Is now a bad time?" questioned Billy, innocently.

"You could say that," replied Hayley, barely acknowledging him in her frantic search for a bottle of caramel syrup. "I had both of my two o'clock employees call in "sick" and I couldn't get anyone else to cover until four, so it's just me and one other for now."

"Where's the one other?" said Billy, looking around aimlessly, his eyes settling on a nearby clock that read the time as just a few minutes before three.

Hayley just shook her head, prepared to reply until she set her sights on the caramel bottle resting near the smoothie area, where it had absolutely no business being. She grabbed the bottle triumphantly and returned to where she had just been, continuing her drink-making scramble.

"He's over by the computers cleaning up a smoothie that some kid dropped," muttered Hayley, with a discreet roll of her eyes that caused Billy to grin ever so slightly. Surprisingly, considering her present mood, Hayley smiled back and continued, "I know I asked you over for a specific reason, but I could _really _use an extra body if you think you're up for it. I'll even pay you."

Laughing, Billy shook his head and said, "You don't have to pay me, Hayley. Though I'm honestly not sure how much assistance I could be to you. I don't really know very much about the world of coffee and smoothies."

"I don't need you to make drinks," said Hayley, placing six different cups on a tray, which she then extended to Billy as she added, "Just serve them."

Billy took the tray with apprehension. "Are you sure about this, Hayley? I've never done this before."

"There's a first time for everything, Billy," replied Hayley, with a grin. "Trust me, I wouldn't be asking you to do this if I didn't absolutely need the help."

Sighing, Billy nodded and said, "I'll do my best, although I don't think I'll be making much in the way of tips. Where do these beverages need to be delivered to?"

"To that group of kids on the couches over there," answered Hayley, pointing Billy in the right direction. "Thank you so much, Billy."

Again, Billy nodded, but this time said nothing as he turned and started navigating his way across the café, nearly losing the tray when a teenage girl paying no attention to anything but the cell phone she was text messaging on nearly ran right into him. He avoided her with grace, but was still pleasantly surprised when he realized that he had not dropped a single drink.

The first few trips were awkward at best, and it took a good bit of time for him to adjust to this new task, although by the time that Hayley's reinforcements arrived an hour later he had developed quite a steady rhythm for someone who was doing the job for the first time. It was after yet another drink delivery that he returned to the bar to find Hayley leaning against the counter, breathing deeply in an effort to recover from the rush that had only just now finally started to die down.

"Well, all-in-all I'd say I did okay," said Billy, wearing a Cheshire grin as he mimicked her pose on the adjacent counter.

Hayley rolled her eyes playfully at his mockery, shook her head while she crossed the short distance between them, and then took hold of the tray in Billy's hands, but made no attempt to take it from him.

"You did better than okay, Billy, you did great," murmured Hayley, flashing a brief smile of appreciation before standing on tiptoes to place a kiss to his cheek. The flustered expression on Billy's face only made her smile more. "Thank you again for everything. I don't know if I would have survived this without your help."

Pink in the cheeks, Billy rubbed the back of his neck and said, "You're most welcome, Hayley. Now, I believe there was something you wanted me to take a look at?" he added, desperate to deflect the attention away from himself.

"Oh, right," said Hayley, nodding, a slight hint of disappointment in her voice. "Just follow me," she continued, leading Billy back into the stock room before locking the door behind them. She then walked over to a column of shelves against the far wall and stuck her hand behind a row of boxes; next moment, there was a loud hiss, followed by the wall rotating in on itself, revealing the entrance to a dimly lit room.

"Is that the dungeon?" asked Billy, jokingly.

"Something like that," replied Hayley, chuckling as she motioned for him to follow her again She hit a light switch on the wall inside the passageway and gave the room instant illumination. Once inside, Billy found a set up that was so reminiscent of the one in Tommy's basement that he was almost certain Hayley had to be responsible for the design of both. Moments later, she confirmed this by pointing to a computer station and adding, "All the systems here are the same as they are at Tommy's house. Here, I'll show you what we're working on."

Taking a seat in front of the monitor, Hayley waited until Billy had wheeled over a chair and was seated as well before turning the monitor on. The image on-screen was from a program that Billy had seen run frequently in Tommy's basement; it was a tracker of sorts, used to detect certain unique energy signatures from anywhere on the planet. Half of the screen was a map of the world, while the other half displayed six continuous lines, colored individually for each of the Rangers, running across the screen similar to the display of an EKG machine. Human rushes of energy, such as exercising, barely registered; a fully-powered morph, however, would cause the lines to surge rapidly. Right now, they were all running smoothly.

"The black dots on the map are all the places where The Hunter has attacked," explained Hayley. "The orange dot on the eastern seaboard is Karma, and unfortunately that's all we have of her at this point," she continued, Billy nodding his understanding as Hayley moved the mouse around and clicked in a variety of locations, bringing up several smaller windows. "These are the energy patterns that were in each of those locations at the time you guys fought. As you can see, the only ones that ever stay the same are you and the other Rangers."

"Do you mind if I take a look?" asked Billy, gesturing towards the spot where Hayley sat.

Quickly, Hayley shook her head and said, "No, not at all. In fact," she added, standing up, "I'm just going to get out of your way and let you do your thing. Besides, I can't really stay back here or the staff will get suspicious. Do you want something to drink or eat?"

"A beverage would probably be a good idea, perhaps a smoothie" said Billy.

"Anything in particular?" questioned Hayley.

"Surprise me," answered Billy, with a smile.

Hayley merely nodded and then departed, and when she returned a few minutes later Billy had yet to make any progress. Remembering the last time she enlisted Billy's help in something, once she had delivered his smoothie she left and did not come back, giving Billy the peace and quiet that he needed for the job at hand.

From his seat in front of the monitor, Billy scanned the screen with narrowed eyes, occasionally pausing to type something or click the mouse where necessary. Time slipped away as he continued his search for even the slightest hint of similarity that would allow him to detect The Hunter. When nearly thirty minutes of work left him with nothing but the onset of a headache, he sat back and let out a frustrated grunt, setting his sights on the still untouched smoothie next to the monitor.

Grabbing the cup and taking a sip, a pleasant smile crossed his lips at what he tasted. It was some combination of berries and citrus, though he could not place his finger on the exact fruits that had been used to create the only smoothie Billy had ever tasted that could stand up to those that Ernie used to serve.

Making a mental reminder to ask Hayley about it later, he quickly pushed those thoughts aside and returned to the monitor. He was just about to start searching the energy patterns again when his eyes landed on the world map, particularly the red dot on New York City. Immediately he was taken back to the fight with Karma. Images of Times Square rushed through his head, but one stuck out amongst the rest, that of the massive video screen at the heart of the district. The look on Billy's face at that moment was almost cartoonish in nature, as though a light bulb had truly just clicked on in his head.

"Is it…possible?" he muttered, to himself. "Perhaps…" he drifted off, hastily returning his attention to the computer. With an expression of clear intent he began clicking and typing away like a madman, until at last a victorious grin was formed. "That's it," he added, rubbing his hands together. "I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier."

Now that he had the key to the necessary answers, finding them was hardly a challenge at all. It took but ten minutes for Billy to locate the similarities in The Hunter's energy signals, bursting out of his chair to tell Hayley of what he had found. Luckily, activating the secret door from the inside was much easier, as there was a simple green button on the stone wall that he had seen Hayley use, but he hesitated upon his motion to push the button, wondering just how often Hayley's employees visited the stock room on the other side.

Deciding against taking that risk, Billy instead retrieved his cell phone from his hip pocket and sent Hayley a short text message asking her to rejoin him. Waiting impatiently, he was on the verge of using his communicator when he heard the wall start to shift behind him.

"What's up?" said Hayley, as she walked inside and closed the door behind her.

"I found what you were looking for," answered Billy, unable to contain his grin.

Hayley's mouth fell open in surprise as she sputtered, "Wait, what? How'd you do it?"

"Come and see it for yourself," replied Billy, motioning for her to join him. Once she was seated, he brought up a multitude of windows and continued, "I know it's random, but I was thinking about that huge video screen in Times Square and it gave me an idea. After looking up the exact locations where he attacked, I pinpointed any businesses in the vicinity and hacked into their security cameras. I then took what video footage still remained and synchronized it with its corresponding energy signature. For us, our signatures spike _when_ we use energy; for The Hunter, it spikes based on _how_ he uses his energy."

Hayley furrowed her brow in confusion. "I don't think I follow," she muttered.

"You will in a second. You have to look quickly, but try to keep one eye on the video and the other on the energy signature," said Billy. "What you have to remember is that this guy is extremely powerful, so his signature is practically always moving, that's why it's so hard to detect. However, there are certain points in the video footage that always match up to the way his energy spikes when he does the corresponding activity."

"Still confused," said Hayley, shaking her head.

Billy smiled. "Just watch," he replied, playing the video from the start. It was of the strip mall where Tommy had been attacked after picking up pizza for him and Kimberly. "The Hunter will arrive as Jared Grant in precisely thirty-seven-point-nine seconds. Right before you see him appear, take a look at the energy signature."

After the first time through Hayley continued to be oblivious to what she was supposed to be seeing, but as Billy moved through the different videos she began to realize what he was talking about. Right before The Hunter appeared or disappeared, his various signatures would register a small, barely recognizable blip; when attacking, those blips would increase in size based on how much energy he was exerting at the time.

"I never would have found that," said Hayley, in disbelief. "Can we track him now?"

Billy shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, no, not at this point. Right now, all we have is a small pattern; before we can track it we first have to establish where it's coming from. If we're quick enough, though, we should be able to catch it the next time he moves."

"But that could take hours, couldn't it?" questioned Hayley.

"I suppose so," answered Billy, shrugging. "That's why I'm not going to do it. If you watch the videos closely, you'll see a small wave of runoff energy that appears approximately twelve seconds before he does. I've already installed a program that will trace that wave back to its starting point as soon as he moves again."

"Wow," murmured Hayley, clearly impressed. "It sounds like we're making some good progress."

"Most definitely," said Billy, nodding. "Now, all that's left to do is wait."

Rolling her eyes, Hayley grumbled "I hate waiting," and then shot Billy a playful smirk.

They briefly locked gazes as Billy smiled back and gave a short chuckle. "I'm no fan of it either," he replied, slowly rising to his feet. "It is what it is, though," he continued, with a helpless shrug, Hayley nodding her agreement. "Well, seeing as how I've done all I can at the moment, I should probably be on my way."

"Oh, yeah," said Hayley, quickly, standing up as well. "Thanks again for everything, Billy. I'm sure Tommy will be thrilled to hear the good news."

"He certainly should be," said Billy, sharing a laugh with Hayley. "The program will set off an alarm when The Hunter moves; let me know when that happens, okay?"

"I will," said Hayley, nodding. "Take care, Billy," she added, hugging him.

"Yeah, you too," murmured Billy, returning the embrace, albeit with a bit of hesitation.

The hug broke a moment later, and Billy was gone not long after that. For reasons she could not explain, Hayley found herself drawn back to the computer, staring at Billy's energy signal as it moved not across the country, but to a small dot on the map less than twenty miles away from Reefside. He was in Angel Grove, and it took no more than a few seconds for Hayley to reason his exact location.

He was at the cemetery.

--

The setting sun in the horizon cast a pinkish glow over the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a seaside amusement park with a carnival-like atmosphere similar to that of New York's Coney Island. The boardwalk was bustling with activity, a very rare scene for a weekday evening in the middle of February, patrons partaking in everything from laser tag and miniature golf to the food and games of the midway. In the middle of it all were Tommy and Kimberly.

It was striking, how visibly at ease they were with each other as they walked hand-in-hand down the old wooden boardwalk, laughing and joking like they were still teenagers. Kimberly had thoroughly defeated him in their game of laser tag; a fact that she had continuously reminded Tommy of, even though it had been well over two hours ago. For his part, Tommy took it all in stride, not even bothering to remind Kimberly that he had beaten her by twenty-three strokes in their round of miniature golf.

As they passed by a concession stand, she looked up at Tommy and smiled. "Wanna buy me a corn dog?" she asked, with an expression so sweet Tommy would not have been able to say no even if he had wanted to.

"Yeah, alright," he replied, guiding them into line behind a few other people.

Ten minutes later they each had a corn dog, and it was not long after that that they came across the same game that had emptied Tommy's wallet all those years ago. Tommy gave her a look as if to say "No, no, HELL NO!" but again, the expression on her face was one that he had an extremely hard time arguing with. Plus, he reasoned to himself, it was her birthday and at the very least she would end up going home with something to laugh about.

"Dollar a ball or four for three!" said the station attendant, an elderly man who thankfully looked nothing like the carnie from the state fair. "I know your lady friend would love a prize," he continued, his comment directed towards the approaching Tommy and Kimberly. "Think you got what it takes, young man?"

Tommy shook his head. "No, sir," he replied with a laugh, handing Kimberly his half-eaten corn dog as he added, "But she'll never let me hear the end of it if I don't try."

Kimberly slapped his shoulder playfully as he dipped into his back pocket and retrieved his wallet, pulling out a few bills that he then passed along to the older man. Tommy took his four balls for three dollars and proceeded to embarrass himself with flying colors; two balls missed completely, one took off the top bottle only, and the last was so bad that it ricocheted off the table and hit him in the chest.

"Maybe that's a sign," muttered Kimberly, trying not to laugh as she rubbed Tommy's chest for him.

"Probably," he said through gritted teeth, "But I'm knocking those bottles over if it's the last thing I do."

"Uh-oh," said Kimberly, watching as Tommy went back to his wallet, this time pulling out a twenty dollar bill.

One after another he continued to miss, occasionally taking out a few bottles, his expression growing more and more frustrated with each pitch. By the time he had thrown a dozen or so balls, Kimberly had started to lose interest and turned around to do a bit of people watching as she munched on her corn dog.

Setting her sights on the nearby Monterey Bay and its easily accessible beach that ran alongside the boardwalk, she brought the corn dog up for a bite but stopped halfway to her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise as she slowly turned back around and said, "Uh, Tommy?"

"What?" questioned Tommy, so focused on knocking over the milk bottles that he did not even bother to look her way.

"I, uh, I think you should see this," murmured Kimberly.

Tommy shook his head. "Not right now, Kim. I just got five bottles out of six; that's the best I've ever done before," he replied, continuing to throw. "It's only a matter of time now before I get them all."

Kimberly rolled her eyes, snatched the ball from his hand, pushed him out of the way and took out all six milk bottles in a single throw. "There," she said, matter-of-factly, Tommy staring at her in disbelief as she continued, "Now turn your ass around and look."

Furrowing his brow, Tommy followed Kimberly's pointed finger to the beach and groaned upon seeing the small army of Dark Soldiers terrorizing some civilians. "Great," he muttered, shaking his head, "Just what I needed."

"Let's go," said Kimberly, jerking her head.

Tommy nodded, but on the verge of running they were stopped by the carnival worker.

"Wait a second," said the elderly man, smiling wickedly as Tommy and Kimberly stopped and turned around. When they did, however, the old man was gone, and in his place stood the villainess Karma who sarcastically added, "Don't you want your prize?"

Before either had time to realize what had happened, Karma had sent them flying across the boardwalk with eruptions of energy to their chests. Flailing wildly through the air, their trip lasted quite some time, carrying them beyond the beach and over the ocean. Simultaneous splashes rippled the water's surface, but after nearly thirty seconds underwater neither had returned from the ocean's depths.

Then, out of nowhere, two columns of white and pink light burst into the sky from underwater, followed a moment later by Tommy and Kimberly, garbed in their Ninjetti robes, flying as though they had just been shot from a cannon. At the apex of their ascent they moved into side-by-side front flips, each landing on one knee with their heads down, slowly looking up to see that they were surrounded by Dark Soldiers on all sides.

"Up and over?" questioned Tommy, his back to Kimberly.

"Sounds good," replied Kimberly, the pair throwing themselves into back flips over the Dark Soldiers, passing by each other in midair before landing outside the circle of foot soldiers.

As soon as his booted feet touched sand Tommy dropped into a squat and quickly took down three of the Dark Soldiers with a snapping leg sweep. Popping back onto his feet, he was then thrown backwards by another of the Dark Soldiers, Tommy landing on his back a few feet away. He did a quick kip up to bring himself into a standing position once more and, upon seeing Kimberly in potential danger, took off running towards a single file line of Dark Soldiers.

Leaping into another flip, he landed atop the shoulders of the first foot soldier in line and began using them as stepping stones, springing from shoulder to shoulder until he reached the last in line, at which point he launched into a flying side kick that connected with the chest of an airborne Dark Soldier that had been attempting to catch Kimberly from behind.

"Thanks for the save," said Kimberly, who had turned around just in time to see Tommy's kick.

"Anytime," said Tommy, grabbing her wrist and pulling her past him, kicking another Dark Soldier trying a sneak attack. "See," he continued, winking at her, "I told you."

Kimberly rolled her eyes, but upon seeing the look in Tommy's realized that a third attempt at attacking her from behind was about to happen. Just as he made to pull her out of the way, however, she threw her arm back and into an L-shape, slamming her fist directly into the Dark Soldier's face without ever bothering to turn around.

"Three in a row?" she questioned, shaking her head, "Really?"

Tommy was able to manage a brief chuckle before the Dark Soldiers all started to converge on them once more. "I think there are more of them," he muttered, furrowing his brow. "Alright, no more playing around. Let's end this."

Kimberly nodded, and with that they were fighting again. As the fight wore on, the Dark Soldiers seemed to be replicating. Every time Tommy or Kimberly would take out one, two more would be there to take its place. Rather quickly, and despite the usage of their powers, the sheer number of Dark Soldiers to contend with simply became overwhelming.

In the midst of trying to defend himself, the Dark Soldiers were able to drag Tommy to the ground, forming a dog on top of him that left him unable to move more than an inch or two in each direction. They were intent to keep him down, so much so that the other foot soldiers abandoned Kimberly entirely, focusing their full attention and power on the White Ranger.

"Tommy!" yelled Kimberly, rushing to his aid, forced to watch on helplessly as more and more of the Dark Soldiers joined the piled.

Knowing that he would not last long with the lack of oxygen at the bottom, she attempted to pull the Dark Soldiers away from him, but there were too many. To make matters worse, she had barely dispatched a few of the foot soldiers when she felt something slam hard into her back, causing her to cry out in pain as she fell to the beach. Next moment she was seized around the waist by a rope of gilded energy, pulled backwards some twenty-five feet until another blow collided with her spine.

"You fool," spat Karma, grabbing Kimberly by her robes, quickly hoisting her up so that her feet dangled above the ground. "Did you really think you could stop me? You may have been lucky once before, but I've since struck a deal with your friend The Hunter. Now that I have his full army at my disposal, conquering the Power Rangers should be no problem."

Fighting against the pain, through gritted teeth Kimberly muttered, "What do you want with us?"

Karma laughed. "Do not worry yourself with such details, Pink Ranger. You will know when the time is right," she replied, throwing Kimberly to the ground. With a wave of her hand, Karma had bound Kimberly completely with more energy ropes. She then grabbed the back of Kimberly's head and forcefully turned it towards the dog pile as she continued, "Now watch as your leader becomes the first to experience true karma."

On her knees, Kimberly squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head vehemently, unable to bear the thought of Tommy gasping for his last few breaths beneath the sea of Dark Soldiers. Karma's continuous laugh was torture to Kimberly, her anger building with each passing moment that forced her to hear the woman's cackle.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" bellowed Kimberly, using what little strength she could muster to drive her head into Karma's chin, causing the woman's head to snap back with a violent crack.

For all Kimberly's effort, though, Karma merely laughed and cracked her neck back into place. "You really are as foolish now as you were when you worked for Zordon, aren't you?" she muttered, connecting with a thunderous slap to Kimberly's cheek. "My powers exceed yours, Pink Ranger. To continue this fight is futile and will only result in more pain for you and your friends. Perhaps I should just kill you now; five Rangers would be more than—"

Karma's voice trailed off at that point, her eyes shifting from Kimberly to the pile of Dark Soldiers on top of Tommy. At the word "kill," a small glimmer of white light had suddenly poked through the cluster of bodies, slowly expanding until the sky was flooded by its powerful glow. Both of the women watched on in bouts of silent anticipation, neither with even the slightest clue as to what was actually happening.

Then, without warning, there was the sound of what sounded like a clap of thunder, followed a moment later by the Dark Soldiers being thrown away in every direction. With the foot soldiers gone, Kimberly looked with narrowed eyes for any sign of Tommy but there was none, only a wide column of white light that extended from the beach to the peak of the clouds above.

The white light all but disappeared just seconds later, a wide smile crossing Kimberly's lips when she saw Tommy hovering in the air some fifty feet above the ground, his body surrounded by a crackle of white energy that appeared very much like lightning. From his high vantage point, he looked down on the pair of women and roared, "As winged lord of the skies, I call upon the power of the mighty falcon!"

Raising his arms above his head, he clenched his fists and then threw his arms towards the ground, a hundred bolts of white lightning raining down on the beach. In an instant the Dark Soldiers were destroyed, leaving Tommy staring down at Karma and Kimberly, the Pink Ranger still being kept on her knees.

Turning his body, raising his knee above his waist as though preparing to dash, Tommy became nothing more than a blur of white energy that was suddenly racing right at the two women. Before either could react the rush of energy had slammed directly into Karma's chest, driving the woman across the beach and over the ocean until both had completely disappeared, leaving Kimberly staring at the large body of water in silence while wondering what in the world had just happened.

Her answer did not take long, though, as the blur of white energy reappeared a few moments later, heading straight for her once more. For this occasion, however, it merely slowed upon hitting the beach so that it had stopped completely by the time it had reached Kimberly, Tommy standing in its wake with a wide smile beneath his mask as he muttered, "I think we just found out what my power is."

--


	11. Revelations

_**Title: Never Say Never**_

_**Chapter Ten - Revelations**_

_**Original Posting Date: June 12, 2009**_

--

The following Friday saw Rocky moving throughout the Youth Center at quite a frantic pace, trying as hard as he possibly could to keep up with a morning rush that seemed to be growing larger and larger with every passing day. Word of mouth, as they say, is where a business thrives or fails, and the word at the local schools was so positive that Rocky need not worry about falling into the latter category. Business was buzzing and a negative word about it Rocky could not utter, especially now that Aisha was giving such serious consideration to opening her own veterinary clinic.

His mind raced as he took and completed orders, thinking about everything from his current financial situation to the recent discoveries in his "other job." To say that life was starting to get more interesting would have been a vast understatement. Truth be told, not even a few years worth of covert military operations could compare to being an active Ranger again, though the similarities between the two were abundant.

"Alright, who's got the strawberry-kiwi?" said Rocky at one point, hastily handing off a smoothie to the first person who had raised their hand.

On and on it went like that, Rocky serving food and drink to his teenaged customers, walking the floor whenever time permitted. Finally, after what felt like the longest ninety minutes of his life, the kids began to file out for school, leaving Rocky alone to clean up before he could depart until lunch time rolled around.

It was nearly half an hour later before he was able to bid a temporary farewell to the Youth Center, peering outside cautiously prior to teleporting, as though expecting to find Karma or The Hunter waiting for him just beyond the barrier of Alpha's protective shields. Upon seeing that the streets were free of villainy, though, he prepared to teleport home just as his communicator began to chime.

"Typical; absolutely freaking typical," muttered Rocky, rolling his eyes as he brought his wrist to his lips and said, "It's Rocky, what's up?"

"Hey man, it's me," said Adam, sounding a bit tentative as he continued, "Listen, you know I hate to even ask, but I really need a huge favor from you."

"Rocky's listening," he replied, with a grin.

Adam scoffed. "Third person now, huh?" he questioned, chuckling. "Anyway, like I said, I need a favor. Tanya has a few days off before she hits the western side of the country and she's flying into Van Nuys at seven o'clock tonight. I know she could just take her limo home, but it's been so long since I've seen her and—"

"And you need me, your very best friend in the whole wide world, to cover your classes so that you can pick her up at the airport?" asked Rocky.

"Yeah, I do," sighed Adam, with a small laugh. "Like I said, you know I wouldn't even ask if it wasn't really, _really_ important to me."

Rocky seemed to think about this for a few silent moments before nodding to himself and saying, "Yeah, I think I can do that for you. Aisha has to work late tonight, you really need to get laid, and it'll be good for the kids to get a _real_ lesson for once."

"Hardy-har-har," said Adam, dryly. "Seriously, though, I really appreciate this, bro. I owe you big time."

"And you know I won't let you forget that, either," replied Rocky, sharing a knowing laugh with his best friend. "So what time do you need me there, anyway? I don't close until six, so the earliest that I could be there is six-forty-five or so."

"That's perfect, man," said Adam. "I'm leaving Angel Grove at six and my part-time guy Stephen can handle things until you get there. My really advanced classes don't even start until seven-thirty anyway. I'll leave a key on the desk in my office so you can lock up too."

"Oh, I'm closing shop, am I?" said Rocky, his eyes twinkling ever so slightly as he made his way back towards the stock room. "Adam, my friend, "big time" doesn't even start to cover how much you owe me."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm over it," grumbled Adam, with a laugh. "Thanks again, man. You really have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"For sure, bro," said Rocky. "Just keep your fingers crossed that the asshole crew doesn't decide to strike tonight and fuck things up, especially since, you know, Tanya doesn't actually _know_ you're a Ranger again and all that."

Sighing, Adam replied, "Yeah, I know. As long as things stay quiet, though, she'll know by the end of the night. Actually, I guess she'll know either way."

"You worried about how she'll react?"

Adam did not immediately answer, gathering his thoughts before saying, "Honestly? Yeah, a little bit. Hopefully she'll be cool about it, but I guess you never really know when it comes to this stuff."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, man," said Rocky, encouragingly. "Anyway, I need to get going. I've only got a few hours before I need to be back for the lunch rush."

"Alright then, take it easy, man. And thanks again."

"You thank me one more time and I'm changing my mind," replied Rocky.

Adam laughed. "Alright, alright, I'm done; later, Rocko."

"Yup," said Rocky, quickly ending the transmission.

Surrounded by boxes of food and supplies, Rocky gave one last look around to make sure everything was in order and then teleported away in a column of crackling red energy. Once he was home his first move was to let Aisha know by way of a text message that he was helping at Adam's school and would not be home until much later that night. From there, it was all relaxation time before he needed to return to the Youth Center.

After grabbing a sports drink from the kitchen he made his way into the living room and plopped down on the couch, retrieving the remote control for the television and the controller for his Xbox from the nearby coffee table. Lying on his back, he was on the verge of joining a game of Halo online when all the power in the house suddenly went dead, causing him to bolt upright with a bewildered expression on his face.

"What the—" he muttered, falling silent as the television quickly came back on, this time with a display of static.

Almost as quickly as the static had arrived it was gone, replaced by the image of a smirking news anchor that Rocky recognized almost instantly. His temper started to flare as soon as he saw the man, Rocky clenching his fists at his side as the man started to speak.

"Good afternoon everyone; again I'm Josh Weinstein with PRNews—where it's all Power Rangers, all the time—and I come to you today with an exclusive Power Ranger newsbreak. Just five minutes ago another identity was revealed to your host, one that I think the whole world will be most interested to hear. Ladies and gentleman, without further ado, I give to you…the Red Power Ranger."

Rocky's heart dropped at that point, a heavy lump forming in his throat as the image onscreen changed once more, switching to an overhead view of Angel Grove Park, slowly zooming in until a fully morphed Red Ranger engaged in a fierce one-on-one battle with Goldar became the primary focus.

"Maybe it's not me, maybe it's not me," whispered Rocky, repeating those words over and over as he watched the fight unfold, the Red Ranger quickly gaining an advantage over the winged Titan until at last Goldar was forced to retreat."Please don't be me, please don't be me…"

Holding his breath, Rocky was barely able to face the television as the Red Ranger looked around to insure that he was not being watched before crossing his arms above his head and shouting, "Power down!"

The sigh of relief that escaped his lips came the moment he heard the voice; he did not need to watch to know that it was Jason beneath the helmet and not himself. It was fortunate, too, because it was at that moment that watching became unbearable. Seeing his friends have their identities revealed—and their lives turned upside down as a result—made Rocky as angry as it did sick to his stomach.

"I'm going to kill that guy when I get my hands on him," he muttered, through gritted teeth, turning off the television.

As he rose to his feet and started towards the kitchen he slammed his fist against the couch in a burst of rage, completely forgetting the fact that his strength had been enhanced to gorilla-like proportions. This caused the couch to go flying backwards, flipping rapidly for a few seconds before slamming into the wall and dropping in an upright position.

"Oh, you son of a bitch," he groaned, as though in terrible pain, with a subtle shake of his head that came as a result of seeing the large horizontal crack that the couch had left in the stucco wall. "Aisha is literally going to murder me for that."

Sighing audibly, he effortlessly lifted the couch and took it back to its normal position, then returned to further inspect the damage that he had done. Luckily, the previous owner of the house had purchased when monster attacks in the area had been an almost daily occurrence. She had been a bit paranoid, to say the least, and had had all of the walls reinforced with two-inch thick steel so Rocky's damage was only aesthetical. Still, he knew that if he did not have it properly fixed before Aisha got home that the damage she would inflict on him would affect much more than just his appearance.

It was with those thoughts in mind that he exited the house and hopped into his Explorer for a quick trip to the Home Depot, but not before sending a text message to his red predecessor, offering what little condolences that he could for what was most certainly going to be one of the worst days of Jason's life.

--

Seated on a plastic chair in the faculty lounge at Reefside High School, Tommy stared at a distant television with a look of utter disgust upon his face. The television was currently playing an old Law & Order re-run, but the picture had only just returned to its regular program following the PRNews broadcast that Tommy had been forced to watch.

Though he was currently on his preparation period and had been able to see the broadcast live, even if he had been in the middle of teaching a class he still would have heard the news within moments. His cell phone had been flooded with text messages from nearly fifteen Rangers, all from various teams, almost as soon as Jason's identity had been revealed to the masses.

Seeing Katherine's identity exposed had been hard enough to stomach; that it had now happened to his best friend in the entire world left him in a state of furious sadness. Part of him wanted to reach out to Jason, which he had yet to do. The other part just wanted to punch everything in sight, and at this point he was leaning towards the latter.

Fortunately his rational side prevailed, but any preparation he had planned on doing for his later classes immediately went out the window at that point. He sat with narrowed eyes and clenched fists for the next thirty minutes. Occasionally he stared at the television while simultaneously forcing himself not to throw that out the window as well.

For the most part he stewed in silence, allowing himself only a brief expulsion of his anger when a fellow teacher had asked what was bothering him.

"It's freaking bullshit," said Tommy, feeling like his eyes might flash green at any moment. Normally he would have made sure to censor his words around his co-workers, but this particular teacher was another younger male and one of the only people Tommy worked with that he actually considered a friend. "This guy going around, exposing the identities of the Power Rangers…it just pisses me off, man. Those are people who put their lives on the line every day to keep this planet safe. If you ask me, the least they deserve is a little fucking privacy."

"Yeah, I agree it's pretty messed up, but what can you do?" replied the teacher, with a helpless shrug of his shoulders.

Tommy just shook his head as his co-worker turned and walked away. "Oh, I can do something," he muttered to himself, his nostrils flaring ever so slightly. "I _will_ do something. It's just a matter of time."

For as angry as he was, that he even made it through the rest of the work day without exploding was a minor miracle in itself. The text messages and phone calls from the other Power Rangers continued to come throughout the day, these constant reminders doing nothing more than angering him even further.

Rangers from every team on Earth were contacting him, most of them in fear that their identities might be revealed as well. This did not surprise Tommy, though. For the last few years his many successors had treated him as though he was some all-knowing being who always had a simple resolution for everything related to the Ranger world. Organizing and leading the Red Ranger mission had left him with quite the reputation, one that often times he did not feel like he could live up to.

As the last of his students filed out, he sat back in his chair and wondered silently—perhaps a bit bitterly, as well—as to how many of the other Rangers had actually bothered to contact Jason. This, of course, also reminded him that he had not yet contacted Jason either, which left him with an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He wanted to reach out to Jason and knew that it was the right thing to do, but at the same time that conversation was one that scared him more than he was willing to admit. He was used to having the right answer, or at least some kind of plan to get the right answer; this time, however, he had nothing.

"What would I even say?" he murmured, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "'Hey, sorry bud, I know your whole life just got turned completely upside down, but there's nothing I can do to help?' Yeah, right," he scoffed.

It was then, at the peak of both helplessness and anger that he started to feel a tingling sensation running through his entire body. The feeling was strange, but not unpleasant; Tommy found it to be very much similar to the prickle of the tattoo needle that had left such an intricate design on his chest and back. And though he wore a confused expression at this new feeling, the more it went on the more he started to enjoy it.

"What is this?" he whispered, slowly inspecting himself. "It feels like…_power._"

At the moment that the word "power" escaped his lips there was a surge throughout his body, causing Tommy to seize in his chair as he yelled in pain. What he had just been enjoying a few seconds before he was now begging to stop, so distracted by his pain that he did not recognize Hayley's arrival in his classroom until she took him by his shoulders, shook him, and said, "Tommy, what's going on? Dammit, Tommy, answer me!"

As a last resort she reared back and slapped the side of his face as hard as she possibly could. Tommy's eyes immediately went wide with shock as he turned his head to face Hayley, rubbing his cheek gingerly.

"H-Hayley?" he muttered, obviously confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know, you tell me," replied Hayley, folding her arms across her chest, trying not to smile at the rosy palm print that she had left on Tommy's cheek. "The alarm on my phone went off and when I checked the scanners your readings were off the charts. I've never seen anything like it before."

Tommy shook his head. "I-I don't know. One second I was thinking about how mad I was at what happened to Jason, and then the next there was this weird energy rush. I can't remember anything else after that."

Furrowing her brow, Hayley sighed and said, "Are you okay now?"

It took Tommy a few moments, but eventually he nodded and said, "Yeah, at least I think so. I have no idea what happened, though. It's like I just completely blacked out. I-I know it sounds weird, but it's like I have the strangest urge to fly now."

"Then get a plane ticket."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Not like that. I mean, like, _really fly_; like Kim does."

"Maybe you can then," said Hayley, shrugging her shoulders. "You and Kim both have bird spirits. If she can fly, it really wouldn't be that big of a surprise if you could too, would it? That being said, if I was you I wouldn't go jumping off of any tall buildings until I knew for sure."

A small, half-hearted chuckle was all that Tommy could muster. "Don't worry, I won't," he muttered dryly. "It's not like it would matter if I did, though. I could just morph while I was falling if I really had to."

"Yeah, I guess so."

They remained silent for nearly a full minute after that, looking back at one another, seemingly waiting for the other person to speak. In the end, it was Tommy who finally broke the silence when he said, "So, I take it you saw that crap with Jason?"

Sighing, Hayley nodded solemnly. "It's awful, I know. I can't imagine what he must be going through right now, especially with Kat's identity being revealed as well. Have you tried to talk to him at all since it happened?"

Tommy shook his head. "That was the first thing I wanted to do when I found out. Then I started to call him and I realized that I didn't have a clue about what to say. "Sorry" just doesn't cut it for something like this, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you're saying," replied Hayley, smiling comfortingly. "Still, I know that if it had been you in Jason's position, the first thing that I would do is call you to make sure that you were okay. Like I said, I can't imagine what he's dealing with, but I'm sure it's not very much fun. A call from his best friend might be exactly what he needs."

"I doubt it," said Tommy. At the frustrated look that Hayley sent his way, he quickly added, "But I'm sure it couldn't hurt. I'll give him a call when I get home."

"Good," said Hayley, nodding. "You might want to call Kim, too, while you're at it. Don't tell her I told you, but I think she's kind of freaked out by what's happened to Jason and Katherine. She called me at the café in a panic; she said that she wanted to talk to you, but that she didn't want to bug you."

Tommy winced. "She sent me a text after that bullshit newsbreak saying that she wanted to talk to me, but I wasn't much in the mood for talking so I told her that I was busy and that I'd call her after work. I figured if it was really bad then she'd just use the communicators."

"I don't know," shrugged Hayley. "If you ask me, though, Kim has the least to be worried about; gymnastics training from an Olympic gold medalist _and_ a Power Ranger! Could you imagine the amount of publicity that would get her school?"

"You know it's not like that, Hayley," said Tommy. "We might never be able to live normal lives again if our identities are revealed to the public. It's not going to be long before someone starts digging into Jason and Kat's past and we already know what they'll find when they do. All it's going to take is a few group pictures from our old yearbooks before someone puts two and two together, and then we're all screwed."

Hayley's eyes went wide. "I-I was just kidding about the Kim-thing, but I didn't even think about it that way; you're right, though. I've seen the pictures that you guys used to take. Once they realize that you're all wearing the same colors in every picture, and that Jason's and Kat's correspond to their Ranger colors, it's going to be a free-for-all."

Tommy scoffed. "That's putting it mildly. Kim and Tanya have already had a taste of celebrity, so they're used to autograph requests and interviews and all that stuff, but the rest of us have regular jobs that keep us under the radar; that all changes the second our identities become public knowledge. I don't want to be famous, Hayley, or I'd still be racing stock cars for a living; and those of us who have found fame didn't get it from being Rangers, nor do they want it for that reason, either. With each identity that's revealed, it destroys just a little bit more of what we have all worked so hard to protect, until eventually it all just crumbles."

"I honestly don't know what to say, Tommy," said Hayley, shaking her head. "I wish I had some kind of idea, but what can you possibly do unless you destroy The Hunter before he can release any more identities? I mean, it's not like you can just wipe out years of public records."

At that, Tommy's eyes lit up. "No, maybe not," he muttered, stroking his chin in thought, "But I might be able to delay the inevitable."

"What are you thinking?" asked Hayley, sounding more than a bit worried.

"Go back to my house and call Kim. If she can, have her teleport to the house and you guys wait for me there," answered Tommy, his tone of voice leaving no room for argument whatsoever. "If not, let her know that I'll call her as soon as I can. One way or another, this isn't going to take more than a few minutes."

Hayley furrowed her brow. "What are you going to do, Tommy?" she demanded.

"I don't know yet," said Tommy, softly. "I might not have to do anything, or I might have to do a lot. I'm pulling rank right now, though, and that's all that matters. Whatever happens from here is on my shoulders and I'll take responsibility for it. Please, just go back to the house and call Kim, okay?"

Sighing, Hayley nodded and said, "Okay, but I don't like this; just promise me you're not going to anything terribly stupid."

Tommy grinned. "If I thought it was stupid, I wouldn't be doing it."

"Alright," muttered Hayley.

"Thanks, Hayley."

Hayley merely nodded her head and a moment later she was gone in a column of gray light. As soon as she had disappeared, Tommy opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out a black address book, which he quickly flipped through until he found the name that he was looking for. With his cell phone in hand, he dialed the number beneath the name and waited impatiently as he listened to the line ring.

"Hello, Angel Grove High School, Principal Applebee's office," said a cheerful woman on the other end of the line.

"Hello," said Tommy, politely. "My name is Tommy Oliver and I'm an old student of Ms. Applebee's. I know school's already out for the day, but is she in, by chance?"

"She is, but she's currently in a meeting right now," answered the secretary, Tommy's expression deflating almost instantly as she continued, "May I take a message?"

"Yeah, sure," replied Tommy, hiding well the frustration in his voice. "Just let her know that Tommy Oliver called and that she can reach me on my cell at any time. My number is area code nine-four-nine, three-seven-four, eight-six—"

"Wait one second!" the secretary interrupted, disappearing for a few moments. "I'm sorry I cut you off," she added, upon returning, "But it looks like Principal Applebee's meeting just ended. If you don't mind holding for a few minutes, I'll let her know that you're calling. Tommy Oliver you said, right?"

"That's right," said Tommy, looking very much relieved as he added, "And no, I don't mind holding at all. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome; one moment."

The line clicked over to standard hold music after that, Tommy tapping his foot against the floor as he listened. It did not take long for the line to click once more, however, Tommy grinning when he heard the familiar voice say, "This is Principal Applebee."

"Hello, Ms. Applebee, it's Tommy Oliver," said Tommy. "I'm not even sure if you even remember me, but I was a student of yours when you taught; class of '97."

"Of course I remember you, Tommy! I spent so much time reminding you not to forget things…how could I not remember you?" Ms. Applebee answered, sharing a knowing laugh with her former student. "And please," she added, "we're both adults now, you can call me Gale."

"Well, thank you, Gale, but you'll always be Ms. Applebee to me," replied Tommy, chuckling. "I know this must seem completely random, but I really need to speak to you privately. Do you have a few minutes?"

Ms. Applebee did not immediately answer, but after a few silent moments said, "Well, I do have another appointment shortly, but I can always make time for a former student. What's on your mind, Tommy?"

Tommy sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it over the phone, to be honest," he said. "If you can spare ten minutes, I can be there in less than five."

"Oh, okay," said Ms. Applebee, with obvious surprise. "Nothing's changed; the principal's office is still where it was when you were here."

"Awesome," said Tommy. "Thank you very much, Ms. Applebee. I'll see you shortly."

"Okay. Bye, Tommy."

Tommy said his goodbye and returned his phone to his hip pocket, then immediately sent a page to the Power Chamber via his wrist communicator. The second Alpha-5 responded, Tommy said, "Alpha, it's Tommy. Listen, I need you to set up a temporary shield over Angel Grove High School to keep out The Hunter and Karma as fast as you possibly can."

"Ay-yi-yi, what for Tommy?" asked Alpha.

"I don't have time to explain, Alpha," answered Tommy. "Please, just do it, and let me know as soon as it's done."

"Ay-yi-yi, why do I get the feeling that Zordon wouldn't approve of this?" said Alpha, but the automaton did not question Tommy any further than that.

In less than two minutes time he had established the shield. Tommy kept the line open long enough to hear the confirmation that it was done and then ended the transmission with a mumbled, "Thank you."

Rising to his feet, Tommy closed his eyes as he brought his hand to his opposite wrist once more and murmured, "Let's hope I'm right."

His teleportation beam shot into the sky a second later, touching down in Ms. Applebee's office shortly thereafter. He landed behind her chair, took a silent step forward, and clamped his hand over the mouth of his old teacher. Ms. Applebee started to squirm, forcing Tommy to hold her against her chair as he whispered, "It's Tommy; I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to let go of you now, but you have to promise me that you won't scream, okay?"

With an extremely panicked look in her eyes, Ms. Applebee nodded hastily. As Tommy released his hold and stepped around to face her, Ms. Applebee gasped, "Thomas Oliver, what is the meaning of this?"

It was then that Tommy got his first look in nearly a decade at his former teacher. He was subconsciously pleased to see that she looked very much the same as she had on his graduation day, only slightly thinner and with a few more wrinkles.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Applebee, really I am," said Tommy, as he took the chair across from her. "I couldn't have you screaming, though, and I knew that it would alarm you if I just appeared out of nowhere. Again, I apologize."

"How did you get in here?" demanded Ms. Applebee.

Tommy half-grinned and then answered, "I teleported."

"Teleported?" said Ms. Applebee, Tommy nodding. "What in the world are you talking about, Tommy?"

"I think you know what I'm talking about, Ms. Applebee," replied Tommy. "You're an educated woman; you watch the news. Can you honestly say that you have no idea why I'm here after everything that's happened recently?"

"I—" Ms. Applebee started, drifting off, clearly pondering something. "I saw what happened with Jason and Katherine, if that's what you mean. Beyond that, though, I'm clueless."

Though her words said one thing, the glimmer in her eyes told Tommy that she was far more knowledgeable than she was letting on. "I appreciate your subtlety, Ms. Applebee, but you don't have to pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about," he replied, with a smile. "I'm sure it was pretty easy to read between the lines once you found out about Kat and Jason."

Ms. Applebee eyed Tommy carefully, as though trying to tell him that he need not do this. Tommy, however, merely maintained his smile, until eventually Ms. Applebee sighed and nodded. "You don't have to worry, though, if that's why you're here," she added, hastily. "I think it's awful what that Josh Weinstein man is doing to all of you. I promise, Tommy, your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you very much," said Tommy. "That's not really why I'm here, though. There's a lot going on right now, Ms. Applebee, more than I can explain in what little time we have. What I can tell you, though, is that we desperately need your help."

"M-me?" said Ms. Applebee, Tommy nodding. "How can I possibly help the Power Rangers, Tommy? I'm just a high school principal."

"Believe me, I wish I didn't even have to ask. Unfortunately, we're running out of options," said Tommy. "As we speak there is an intergalactic being somewhere out there called The Hunter, whose only goal is to kill me and all the other Rangers that I served with. We're fighting him as best we can right now, but there's no way that we can stop him from revealing our identities unless we destroy him for good. What we can do, though, is make it a lot harder for the rest of the world to figure it out in the interim, and that's where you come in."

Ms. Applebee's surprise and confusion did not wane as Tommy went on, but instead grew more and more apparent. "What do you need from me, Tommy?"

"I need you to completely wipe us off the school records: me, Kim, Zack, Aisha…everyone; there can't be any evidence that we were ever here at all," answered Tommy, with an expression that conveyed the utmost seriousness.

"I-I don't understand, Tommy," said Ms. Applebee. "What good would that do if this man who wants you dead already knows that you're Power Rangers?"

Tommy shook his head. "It's not to stop him, Ms. Applebee, there's nothing we can do about that; but by eliminating us from the school's history it will make it a lot harder for anyone trying to dig up information on Jason and Katherine from learning anything about the rest of us."

"But Tommy…_yearbooks_," replied Ms. Applebee, "Hundreds of your old classmates have them. The Bulks and Skulls of your class might not be able to figure it out, but eventually one of them is going to put two and two together."

"I know," said Tommy, nodding. "But pictures of us hanging out with Jason and Katherine aren't enough to prove that the rest of us were Rangers as well. That's tabloid news at best. There are only six of us that are active at the moment, and right now our top priority has to be keeping those identities a secret for as long as we possibly can. Living this double life is hard enough without our identities being public knowledge. Do you see where I'm coming from here, how important this is?"

It took a few moments, but Ms. Applebee nodded and said, "Yes, Tommy, I think I do, and I'll be happy to help in any way that I can. That being said, I'll try as hard as I possibly can, but I really don't know if I can just remove you from the school's records."

"You can with a little help," said Tommy, smiling. "Honestly, I would have done this whether you had said yes or no, but I didn't want to go behind your back like this if it wasn't necessary. If you'll give Billy access to the school district's computer systems he should be able to take care of the rest."

"What do you mean, if it wasn't necessary? What were you planning on doing?"

"Billy would have hacked the systems, deleted everything with some crazy hacker virus, and no one else would have ever noticed anything different," answered Tommy, pausing momentarily before adding, "Luckily, though, it didn't have to come to that."

Ms. Applebee did not seem to enjoy the idea of what Tommy was asking her to do, but she conceded nonetheless, scribbling down the necessary codes on a Post-It note that she then passed along to Tommy with a murmured, "Give these to Billy."

"Thank you," said Tommy, smiling as he pocketed the note and rose to his feet. "I really do appreciate this, Ms. Applebee, and I'm sure the other Rangers will as well. You're doing a great service here and, as leader of the team, I can't thank you enough for that."

"Tommy, after everything that you and your friends have done for this planet, helping you with this is the least that I can do, even though it sounds like you really didn't need my help in the first place."

Tommy grinned. "No, I guess I didn't, but like I said, I don't like going behind people's backs unless it's absolutely necessary. Now, I really need to get going. As I'm sure you can imagine, our world is a bit concerned after everything that's happened to Jason and Katherine, and there are still some things that I need to take care of before today's over."

"Of course, Tommy, I completely understand," replied Ms. Applebee, with a smile of her own. She then stood up and extended her hand to Tommy. "Thank you for trusting me with all of this, as well. I can only imagine how hard this must be for you Rangers."

Shaking her hand, Tommy simply nodded and said his final goodbyes, a wave of teleportation energy washing over him a moment later that carried Tommy back to his home in Reefside. He arrived in the kitchen to find that his house was deserted, but that Hayley had left a note for him on the refrigerator door: she had had to get back to work and Kimberly would be coming by the house in a few hours to talk to him.

Remembering his earlier conversation with Hayley, he retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator and then made his way to the living room, collapsing on the couch with his cell phone in hand and Jason's number already dialed. As he listened to the line ring he thought about what he was going to say when Jason answered; unfortunately, he was still as clueless now as he had been that morning.

By the fourth ring Tommy was starting to wonder whether or not Jason would answer at all. His question was answered following the next ring, when the line clicked over to Jason's voicemail message.

"Hey buddy, it's me," said Tommy, after hearing the beep. "Listen, I-I meant to call you earlier, but I didn't know what to say. Truth be told, I still don't know what to say really. I feel terrible, man. I just…I guess part of me feels guilty, like this all would have been avoided if I had just been able to stop him the first time, you know? Anyway, give me a call back when you can…or if you even want to. You know I'm here if you need someone to talk to, bro. Later."

Sighing as he flipped his phone shut, Tommy haphazardly tossed the device onto the nearby coffee table and then lay back down with closed eyes. He had not intended to spend much time like this at all, but the day's events had left him so drained—physically as well as emotionally—that he ended up drifting off within a matter of seconds.

Deep as it was, though, his sleep was also a restless one that was continuously plagued with images of his teammates both former and current, attempting to fend off thousands of civilians and paparazzi. For nearly an hour he remained like this, his eyes squeezed shut as he tossed and turned on the couch. At one point he was almost certain that he had heard someone repeatedly say his name, but the voice was distant at best, not nearly enough to wake him from his slumber. Not long after that, however, the voice in the back of his head started to become more prominent.

"Tommy…Tommy…it's me…Tommy, wake up."

"Huh? What? Who's there?" said Tommy, clearly flustered as he bolted into a sitting position and began rubbing his eyes. Blinking rapidly, a silhouette slowly came into focus. "Oh, it's you," he added, with a yawn, upon seeing Kimberly standing nearby. "What's up?"

"You tell me," replied Kimberly, folding her arms across her chest. "Hayley told me that you had some harebrained scheme up your sleeve. Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid, Tommy."

"Define stupid," said Tommy, with a grin that Kimberly seemed none too pleased to see. Sighing, Tommy shook his head and continued, "No, I didn't do anything stupid, Kim, and it wasn't a 'harebrained scheme,' either. I just needed to take care of something, that's all. I don't think you have to worry anymore about your identity being revealed, though; at least not any time soon, anyway."

Kimberly furrowed her brow. "Who told you I was worried about that?"

Tommy shrugged. "I just…I guess I figured you'd be worried after what happened to Jason and Katherine," he lied, not wanting to mention his earlier conversation with Hayley, for obvious reasons.

"Hayley told you that, didn't she?" questioned Kimberly, a heartbeat later, her tone leaving no room for anything except the truth.

For a brief moment Tommy simply sat there with his mouth agape, trying to fathom how she could have possibly figured that out in such a ridiculously short amount of time. After regaining most of his senses, he swallowed hard and said, "She asked me not to say anything, so I'm not going to, but I'm sure you can read between the lines."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "I'm not worried about my identity being exposed. With everything going on right now, that's the least of my worries."

"So what's going on then?" asked Tommy. "You said you wanted to talk—"

"I did," said Kimberly, nodding, "But not about that. As soon as I saw that newsbreak I knew it was going to piss you off. I mean, hell, it pissed me off, and you're _way_ more temperamental than I am. I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to go run off and do something idiotic like trying to take out The Hunter on your own."

"Is that it?"

Kimberly nodded. "That's it," she answered.

It was at that point that Tommy burst out laughing. "Oh come on, Kim," he replied, shaking his head. "You didn't really think I was going to do something that moronic, did you? I want to end his life as quickly as possible, but not at the expense of my own. I've seen firsthand what he's capable of doing; there's no way I could take him by myself."

Scoffing quietly, Kimberly said, "If anyone could do it, it would be you, Tommy."

"Don't," said Tommy, with another shake of his head. This time, however, his expression was far more serious. "I'm sick of everyone having these unrealistic expectations of me," he continued, sighing. "All day long different Rangers have been blowing up my phone. Not just our Rangers, either, Kim, but all of them. I'm not the Wizard of fucking Oz; I don't have all the answers, and I'm not some invincible superhero just because I've been doing this longer than everyone else. Me trying to take The Hunter one on one would be no different than if it was you, or any other Ranger for that matter."

Kimberly just smiled as she closed what little distance remained between them, taking the seat next to Tommy's. She then laid her head against his shoulder, gently took one of his hands, and said, "No, Tommy, you're not invincible, but you _are_ the best and there's no denying it. The things you've done in the Ranger world…it's not a matter of opinion, it's a fact. I know you might not want that pressure, but the truth is that you're the only one who can handle it."

"It's not the pressure that bothers me, Kim, it's the sheer logistics of the whole situation," said Tommy, audibly exasperated. "Look, I don't mind being the go-to guy for the six of us—ten if you include the others—but I can't be responsible for every team on Earth. I'm not Zordon, you know? Sometimes I wish I was, though. It would make everything a whole hell of a lot easier, that's for dam sure."

"Yeah, but then you'd also be a giant floating head in a tube of green mist," said Kimberly, laughing. "Where would that leave us?"

Tommy chuckled. "Yeah," he replied, pulling her in even closer, "I guess you're right. Still, it's like…part of me wishes there was something I could do to change all of this, but the other part knows I can't do it by myself. I just…I just want this all to end, Kim. I'm sick of seeing my friends get hurt like this, and what makes me even sicker is that I can't do anything to stop it from happening."

"So that's what's really bothering you, isn't it?" said Kimberly, knowingly, Tommy shooting her a puzzled look. "It's not that everyone is coming to you for help, it's you feeling guilty that you can't help them. I guess it's not that big of a surprise. I mean, it's not like this is the first time you've beaten yourself up over something that's out of your control."

Rolling his eyes, Tommy replied, "I really don't need this right now, Kim. Jason and Kat…their lives are ruined now and they didn't do a damn thing to deserve it! One by one this is going to keep happening and pretty soon none of us are ever going to be able to live normal lives again."

"I hate to break it to you, Tommy, but normalcy is something we all lost a long time ago," said Kimberly. "When you've traveled to planets no one has ever heard of, piloted massive robots, and worn spandex armor to fight evil space villains, normal pretty much stops existing. I know what you're feeling, because I feel it too. I hate that Jason and Katherine are going through this crap, but the fact of the matter is that we can't change what happened; all we can do is try our hardest to stop it before it goes any further than it already has."

As Kimberly's words slowly set in, Tommy chuckled softly and said, "You know, usually I'm the one that's supposed to say stuff like that. You're right, though," he added, with a slow head shake. "Still…this has gotten way out of control. We have to stop The Hunter before he can do any more damage and that's all there is to it."

"I agree completely," said Kimberly, nodding. "We _will_ stop him, Tommy. One way or another, we always come out on top."

"I hope you're right, Kim," said Tommy, sighing. "I really, _really_ hope you're right."

--

At ten minutes to seven that night the distant sun was nearly set, casting only the faintest hint of an orange glow over the Van Nuys Airport where Adam was currently waiting for Tanya's plane to arrive. He was parked just off the nearest runway in a section of the airport reserved for privately owned planes, tapping the steering wheel impatiently as he stared off towards the horizon with narrowed eyes.

A slowly approaching speck in the distance caused him to squint ever so slightly while wondering if the dot could finally be Tanya's plane. With each passing moment that the far away speck grew closer Adam could feel his heartbeat start to quicken as well, almost as though the excitement of seeing her again was taking control long before he had even laid eyes on her.

Fortunately, his anticipation was not in vain. As the dot became the blurry form of an airplane, Adam mused that the last thing he needed today after what had happened with Jason was another disappointment. He, like most of the other Rangers, had attempted to contact the former Red, only to be left with either Jason's voicemail recording or an unanswered text message.

It seemed like Jason did not want to be disturbed and, truth be told, Adam did not blame him. Closing his eyes, he briefly tried to imagine what life would be like had he been the one to have his identity revealed. Almost instantly, however, he realized that a life like that was one that he did not even want to _think_ about.

Returning his sights to the approaching plane, he allowed himself a small smile before letting out a sigh. Ever since Tanya had called the day before to let him know that she was coming home, her impending arrival had dominated Adam's thoughts. Now, though, part of him was starting to hope that the plane was not hers after all.

As Rocky had reminded him this morning, he had still not told Tanya that he was an active Ranger once more. He was also well aware that her reaction to the news would more than likely dictate what happened next in their relationship. He could see her being angry just as easily as he could see her understanding; needless to say, he was hoping for the latter.

Then he could see the plane begin its descent, the seconds creeping by until at long last the wheels of the Ultra Long Range Learjet hit the runway, bringing it to a stop a few hundred feet away from where he sat. Taking a deep breath, he said a quick silent prayer and clambered out of the car; walking towards the plane, he watched intently as the plane's hatch opened wide and a mechanical staircase slowly unfolded towards the ground.

Adam had made it about halfway to the plane when the first person exited: a man with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes; in his mid-to-late forties; and dressed to the nines in a designer suit, shirt, and tie. He, as Adam already knew, was Tanya's business manager. Next was a much taller and wider black man. His head was completely shaved and he wore a black tee shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans, his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses even though night had already fallen. This was Tanya's cousin, Tony, who was now her bodyguard as well.

A few more people got off the plane as Adam continued towards it with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his dark blue jeans. Then he saw Tanya and it was as if everything else around him had disappeared entirely. Frozen on the spot, he could do little more than stare at her in awe of how gorgeous she looked in nothing more than black sweats and a yellow tank top, a small yellow backpack hooked around her shoulders and a matching bandana tied around her head.

Their eyes met almost as soon as she had started down the stairs, Tanya sending a smile Adam's way that immediately shook him from his stupor. Grinning back, he continued towards the plane and was already at the bottom step waiting for her before she had reached the ground.

"Hey—" started Adam, only to be cut off when Tanya launched herself at him from three steps away. He caught her at the waist, Tanya securing their position by wrapping her legs around his torso before kissing him passionately.

It took Adam a moment to realize what was happening, but then his senses returned and moments later he was kissing her back, kissing her as he had never kissed her before. Lost in a wondrous sense of blissful oblivion, only when both were short of breath did their kiss reach its inevitable end.

"I take it you missed me as much as I missed you?" said Adam, smiling.

Biting her lip, Tanya nodded. "Yeah, I did," she replied softly, through a grin of her own.

Slowly turning around, Adam carefully set her back on her feet and said, "I'm glad you're finally home."

"It's good to finally be home!" said Tanya, still smiling up at him as she wrapped her arms around his nearest bicep and rested her head against his shoulder.

Adam just winked discreetly as the surrounding group started to gather to say their temporary farewells. There was much that he needed to say to her, but he also knew that this was not the appropriate forum for that particular conversation. No, there would be plenty of time for that later; right now he just wanted to get her home as soon as possible.

"You ready to go?" asked Adam, once all the goodbyes had been said.

"Yeah, I am," said Tanya, nodding. Adam took her hand, gave it a squeeze, and then they were off. Heading towards the car, Tanya added, "It'll be nice to finally sleep in my own bed for a change. You have _no idea_ how awful it is sleeping on a tour bus bunk every night."

Adam smiled. "Well then you'll be happy to know that I actually did all the bed laundry this morning: sheets, pillowcases, the comforter, everything."

"And I'm sure I'll be doing it again in the morning," replied Tanya, with a seductive wink that left Adam grinning his trademark squinty-eyed grin.

As easy as it would have been to forget everything else that had happened, Adam simply could not allow himself to do it. It was with a soft sigh that he said, "There's some stuff we need to talk about, Tanya."

"I figured you'd say that," admitted Tanya. "After what's happened to Jason and Kat, I don't blame you for being worried—"

"It's not—" started Adam.

"I mean, I totally understand why you would be," continued Tanya, speaking right over the top of him. "I'm out there on the road and you're not there, so you're already worried about that."

"Tanya, it's not—" tried Adam, once more.

"Then there's the fact that I could be the next one to have my identity revealed," Tanya went on. "I'm already a walking target for attention because of my music, but if everyone knew I was a Ranger, too…well, like I said, I can understand why you'd be worried."

Closing his eyes to prevent himself from rolling them, Adam stopped at the front passenger door of his car and opened it for Tanya who slipped inside with a smile. He then proceeded to make his away around to the driver's side while muttering a few choice words beneath his breath. Upon settling into his seat, he immediately turned to Tanya with a serious expression on his face and said, "Are you done? Because that had _nothing _to do with what I wanted to talk about."

"Oh," said Tanya, taken back a bit. "Go ahead then; I'm sorry."

"It's fine," said Adam, nodding. "I just," he continued, pausing as he reached behind his back. Moments later, he extended his fist towards Tanya, opened it wide, and added, "I just thought you should know about this."

He had expected Tanya to be at least somewhat surprised at the sight of the small golden disc emblazoned with the image of the frog, but she looked neither surprised nor concerned. Instead, she simply smiled and said, "Adam, did you really think I wouldn't already know? The Rangers are always big news, even more so now that this guy is starting to expose our identities."

"You-you knew?" asked Adam, incredulously. Tanya nodded as he questioned, "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

Tanya shrugged. "I guess I figured you'd call if you wanted to talk about it," she answered, as Adam brought the engine to life. Once he had started pulling away she continued, "Whenever you feel unsure about something, I'm usually the first one you go to. The first couple times I saw you on TV, I came real close to calling you. Honestly, though—and I'm going to sound terrible for saying this—I just couldn't find the time. When I had time, I knew you were either at work or asleep; plus, like I said, I figured you would have called me if you wanted to talk."

"I was more worried about your reaction than anything else," said Adam. "Part of me thought you might flip out or something."

Tanya furrowed her brow. "What would make you think something like that?"

"Tommy," admitted Adam, with a quiet chuckle. "He's told a couple of stories about some of the other Red Rangers he went on that mission to the moon with. Most of the guys had ex-Rangers as girlfriends or wives, and I guess a few of them weren't very happy when the guys picked up their Morphers again."

"I'll admit, sometimes it worries me to know you're putting your life on the line again," said Tanya. "At the same time, I know what a capable Ranger you are. If Aisha wasn't out there to keep Rocky in line, I'd be worried about him—"

She paused at that point as she and Adam shared a laugh. "—but you?" she continued, reaching out and gently touching the side of Adam's face. "Deep down, I know that I don't really have to worry about you."

"You have no idea how happy and relieved it makes me to hear you say that," said Adam, smiling as he took her hand.

Their conversation took a much more casual turn at that point, as both realized that they had been worried about different things for no reason whatsoever. They made it down the freeway, perhaps only fifteen or twenty minutes away from home, however, when things took a sudden turn for the worst.

So sudden was Jared Grant's appearance in the middle of the fast lane that Adam did not have time to react. Tanya screamed as both braced themselves for impact, but the impact they were preparing themselves for never came. Instead of flattening Jared Grant completely, he lowered his shoulder and pushed against the grill of Adam's car, causing the front end to crunch as it crushed inward on its passengers. Inside the car, Adam and Tanya were both being tossed around like ragdolls as Jared Grant effortlessly lifted the car and sent it flying through the air, rapidly flipping over and over on itself.

From the corner of his eye, Adam was able to spare a brief glance at Tanya, just enough to see the frightened expression on her face. Then his head slammed into something hard and his entire world went black.

--


End file.
